Imperious Son
by Shadow Master
Summary: (BtVS/Young Avengers/Marvel Universe) The Past. The Present. The Future. We all think about these things but eventually we come to believe that we can only accept the first, attempt to control the second and influence the third. For one man though all that is needed to change all three is the right plan and the right team. This is their story.
1. Chapter 1

"IMPERIOUS SON!" by Shadow Master

(BtVS/Young Avengers/Marvel Comics)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever and do not intend to change this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those readers who enjoy reading my stories. Therefore I would greatly appreciate it if any of you people who have lawyers on speed dial would refrain from filing a lawsuit against me. I can absolutely promise you that what you'd get from me wouldn't even cover half your legal fees.

 **Note 1** : I apologize in advance if I get the characterization of Namor wrong but most of my information sources comes from Wikipedia and the website. I'll do my best to be as accurate as possible but please forgive any mistakes.

 **Note 2** : I know that some of the events I'll be using don't happen in the marvel universe at the same time as in the BtVS universe (as far as when the episodes aired and when the comic book issues came out) but seeing as how Marvel changes its timeline regularly just assume this is how things went on Earth-617 rather than 616.

 **Note 3** : As always if you are someone who despises even the slightest deviation from canon or characters that stray too much to become OOC then I suggest you turn back now. While I always do my best to keep as close to canon as I can I place the story I want to tell at the top of my priority list. Therefore I will make changes as needed in order to make it all mesh.

 _IMPERIOUS SON!_

 _ **The 30**_ _ **th**_ _ **Century, Schoolyard,**_

 _ **Point Three Five seconds Out of Sync With the Rest of the Time Period**_

 _ **Kang the Conqueror's POV**_

"So it has begun," he said, knowing that none in his current time period could hear him.

Contrary to what his younger self might think, he had known exactly how the encounter between the two of them would go from the moment he'd first spoken to the boy. He remembered how it'd gone because the microsecond he'd arrived and began interacting with this time period, he began to change it and so the changes had rippled forward in time changing things as they went.

Changing things such as his memories.

He knew precisely where his younger self had gone, what his plans were and how their inevitable confrontation would turn out once he too arrived in the past. The foolish Avengers thought that they had defeated him all those times in the past but how can you possibly defeat someone who has mastered time travel and therefore knows what you will do before you even think of it. The simple answer is you can't. Indeed, every single one of his previous encounters with them had been planned out and choreographed to the smallest degrees, even with their 'victory' being what he'd always wanted. The point of it all was to force the Avengers to use their meager intellects to develop certain technologies while also refining their skills as warriors with each encounter. The reason was because the origins of his own technology, his own tactics, were born in this era and over the centuries evolved into what he used now. THAT was the great truth: all he was doing was planting the seeds for his rise to greatness in the past. Even this little altercation with his younger self had its role to play in bringing about his destiny.

However it was as he was about to release the simuloid into the past to usher in the next phase of the performance when he considered all that would happen afterwards. The formation of the team, their rise to greatness, the trials they would face and… the losses they would suffer. He snorted in amusement at the fact that his old memories the time stream had bequeathed to him still affected him even though it'd technically been decades since they'd happened. He remembered how he felt about her, how he'd fallen in love with her and how her death had set him on the path to becoming who he was today. As a man who'd mastered the intricacies of time, he knew what had to transpire in order to keep his preferred timeline in one piece, and yet…

…and yet he could not help but wonder if he should modify his plans.

Just a little.

All that was necessary was for circumstances to force the young heroes into fighting so that they could gain the courage to continue, as well as the camaraderie that only comes from fighting side by side against a common foe. To achieve that, Captain America, Iron Man and Jessica Jones needed to be removed from the equation in such a way so as to provoke the young team into taking action. In his memories this occurred by persuading the three Avengers to hand over 'Iron Lad', causing the younger heroes to rebel, ultimately resulting in them fighting against him. Their 'teamwork' and his 'unfamiliarity' with their powers would lead them to defeat him temporarily allowing them time to realize that his younger self needed to return to his own time in order to avoid destroying all they knew. Thus would the Vision be reborn and the bonds needed to sustain the new team would form allowing history to follow the course HE had laid out for it.

The question became how he could alter what he desired without overly affecting the overall sequence of events that needed to happen.

He would not be able to directly intervene and save the woman who he'd fancied in the past, for that would tarnish the image he'd carefully crafted in the minds of all his enemies in the twenty-first century. They would ask questions, make suppositions and potentially view him from an angle they had not previously considered. This could NOT be allowed to happen. Therefore, if he wished to change what did happen so that what he desired to happen would come to pass, he would need to camouflage his intent behind a façade that was in keeping with what his enemies would expect from him. He needed to appear arrogant. He needed to employ a measure that would push his adversaries to their limits in order to show his power and his belief that in all conflicts the opposition needed to be crushed. He needed to step all over the morality that his foes clung to and use underhanded methods to achieve his goal.

It was then, almost faster than he could comprehend, that an idea burst forth from his mind that made him laugh as he had truly outdone himself this time. Not only would this assure the return of his younger self to his proper moment in time but it would also put five new pieces into play in the past that hopefully would prove to be enough to save… her.

With but a thought he opened a temporal portal to his base of operations in the fortieth century and, once he was on the other side, proceeded to his private laboratory. Of all of his subordinates only three were permitted to enter it and not one of them knew the full breadth of what he did in that room, which was just how he preferred it. He of all people knew that information was power and he would be a poor conqueror indeed if he allowed anyone to gain more power than him. Nevertheless there were times in which he had to leave an experiment or project in the hands of a subordinate while he tended to important matters elsewhere.

It didn't take him long to reach his lab and, after the security scans verified his identity beyond question and he spoke the necessary passwords, the door slid open to admit him. Only peripherally was he aware of the door closing and securing behind him as he walked over to holographic controls for his temporal signature locator. Bringing it online he began to search for the ones that he would need in order to bring his modified plan to fruition. They would have to be powerful, resourceful and possess traits that would affect those that would oppose them when they arrived on the path. They would also have to be suitable qualities to ensure that they would be accepted in the way he desired.

 _Hmmmm… I shall need to also factor in the possibility that my 'old friends' might not accept them even if things play out as I intend,_ he thought as he continued to sift through his databases. _It is even possible that my potential agents will choose NOT to join the group even if given the chance. In that case I will need my emissaries to stick together at the very least so as to ensure that the fated event occurs differently._

To that end the solution was simple: find something to tie them together.

He considered any one of a number of technological and biological possibilities before discarding that avenue of thought as being too artificial in nature. His warriors would resent their hands being forced in any way and that resentment could taint how they felt about their comrades, resulting in a split up that would ruin his intentions. It didn't take him long to find the correct solution but it would require reaching a little further afield than he usually did for moments such as these. Nevertheless, he was certain that it would induce the conclusion he wished and so he entered the new parameters into the console and then watched as those that didn't fit were removed from consideration.

Sifting through the possibilities, he came across a file that rung a bell of epiphany in his mind and then a delicious idea occurred to him. Indeed, the more he considered it, the more it seemed appropriate. It felt like he should follow the pattern he saw in his mind if only to ensure a complete set. After locking in the first choice he began to select the remaining four, ensuring that each one fit the new parameters he had inside his head until finally he had his 'team'. Now, though, all that was left was to recruit them or, in the case of some, 'acquire' them since they likely wouldn't come willingly no matter what he promised them.

And he knew just where to start.

 _ **The Harris Household, Thursday, 1999, Two Days After the Graduation Battle, Xander's POV**_

 _Well that's it._ He slammed the trunk on his car shut. _The start of my cross country road trip as well as my journey of discovery begins today. Too bad all I have to come back to is a basement that I have to pay my parents rent for._

It never ceased to aggravate him that his parents… no, Tony and Jessica Harris… were so completely incapable of behaving like parents should. Tony didn't make any effort at all at being a good father, instead choosing to perfect his skills as a world class slave owner with his SON as his practice dummy. Whenever the asshole had a problem at work, at the bar or with life in general he was the one that was always to blame, even if every SANE person could tell there was nothing he could've done. All he was to Tony was a way of venting his rage and dissatisfaction about where the bastard's life had wound up thus far. Sometimes this popped up just as your general volley of verbal abuse that lasted about half an hour or so before the bastard stormed off. Other times it was physical coming at him in the form of fists, feet, bottles, bats and anything else Tony managed to get his hands on at the time. It was often sheer luck that kept the blows from landing on parts of him that couldn't be covered by some ill chosen clothing. It was one of the reasons his fashion sense was as poor as it was!

Jessica was only marginally better but that was more because she had the sense to do her drinking in moderation and only go on binges when she didn't have to work for two days or so. She was the real bread earner in the house since she managed to hold down a decent job and get few, if any, complaints from her boss. However at home she was far from mother of the year since she couldn't do even the simplest of household chores right and that meant he'd get saddled with them. Even though they had a fully stocked kitchen with appliances and everything, Jessica couldn't cook an edible meal to save her life. As for the other chores she screwed them up enough that Tony forbade her from trying again before ordering him to do them instead. He learned quick but that was mostly because he managed to trick Mrs. Rosenberg or Mrs. McNally into showing him how during the times he stayed overnight.

The only good thing he could say about Jessica was that she wasn't abusive like Tony was and occasionally made an effort to do something motherly. This usually backfired on her somehow, like with the clown at his birthday, but still at least she made the effort to do something right.

All in all he'd been tempted to write off his road trip and put the money towards an apartment or something so he could finally move out but the desire he had to get away from it all was just too great. Out on the road he could put the insanity of the Hellmouth and his parents behind him so, for once, he could pretend that he was just like every other high school graduate. He'd see the sights and maybe even catch a superhero duking it out with someone along the way before making sure he was back before things got busy in Sunnydale.

 _Maybe I should just leave and… not come back._

It wasn't just the fact that he'd be sleeping in the basement of the house and paying rent for it, despite its questionable cleanliness, but also the rest. He didn't have the money or the brains to follow Buffy, Willow and Oz to UCCS so that was not an option for him. With college out of the question that meant job hunting but, as he figured any high school graduate knew, there weren't a lot of job openings for people with zero experience at anything. That meant he'd be stuck with minimum wage jobs with only his eventual seniority possibly elevating him up to managerial position eventually. Not exactly respectable and, if his friends caught word of it, they'd likely pity him and treat him like a charity case. They probably wouldn't see it that way or think anything bad about doing so but to a man like him with as much pride as any other guy, it mattered.

He might not have any bright ideas as to HOW but he'd be damned if he'd mooch of other people his entire life or make barely enough money to get by!

 _I'll figure something out._ He moved to the driver's side door. _Maybe I'll get some inspiration from some of the places I'll be visiting._

Just as he pulled the door open he heard the house door open up and so he turned, hoping that it wasn't Tony looking to fire off a few parting shots of verbal cruelty. Fortunately lady luck chose to take pity on him as it turned out to only be his mother in her usual casual clothes for when she didn't plan on leaving the house to go anywhere the entire day. Looking her in the eyes, he was surprised to see quite a bit of life in them rather than the blurred drunkenness he'd come to expect from her usually. She had a small bag in her hand, looked like a cross between a purse and a doctor's bag, and just when he was about to ask her what she wanted she shoved the bag into his hands. For a moment he wondered what the heck was going on but on a whim he decided to take a look in the bag in order to find out why she'd have given it to him.

What he saw inside was NOT what he'd expected.

Money, a LOT of money, all put together in wads of bills with those paper bands around the middle. He honestly didn't know how much was in there but he'd be willing to bet that it was enough to fund his trip to all fifty-one states of the country if he was half decently efficient with it. The question… well, two questions, he had were where she got the money and when were the cops going to show up?

"Um…Mom…what is—" he began to ask before his mother put her hand over his mouth to muffle his words.

"I'm afraid we don't have time for explanations, Alex." She looked back at the front door. "Tony might be on his way to passing out but he isn't quite there yet. If he finds out about this… it'll be bad for both of us. Let's just say I've been saving up for this day ever since your first day of school. Tony never suspected and I've changed where I hid it all at least once a week since I began just to make sure."

"So a little over ten years worth of skimming off your paycheck and Tony's bank account?" he asked, trying to get a grip on everything.

"Pretty much," she replied turning her eyes back towards him. "I snuck out as much as I thought I could get away with but now it's time to put it to use. It's not enough to put you through college, Alex, but it's enough to give you a head start on the rest of your life. I'd tell you to leave Sunnydale and never look back but I know you're too loyal to Willow and Buffy for that. Still, use this money on your trip, use it to find out who you really want to be, and then come back to make it happen."

He honestly didn't know what to say to that. This wasn't the mother who'd stood by and let Tony beat on him whenever the asshole wanted to blame the world. This wasn't the mother who'd get drunk just to escape from the crap hole her house had turned into.

This was someone completely new and he found himself wanting to know more but a sharp sound from inside the house and a look of fear on her face make it clear that won't be happening.

"Get going, Alex! I'll try to keep him occupied with another bottle or two." She made her way back to the front door. "Enjoy your trip! See you when you get back!"

With that his mother was gone, back into the hellhole she'd been living in for as long as he could remember, leaving him wondering what had caused such a change in her. Had she just been acting all his life or did she suddenly have some kind of moment of clarity that got her to finally get her act together? Sure, she said that she'd been skimming since his first day of school but that didn't make much sense to him. In the end he decided he needed to shelve the whole thing and think about it later. Sticking around until Tony got the inclination to step outside was not something he planned on doing and he could always ask his mother for the whole story when he got back in a few months.

Getting into his car he started it up, backed out onto the street then drove off for the city limits and whatever lay beyond.

 _ **Jessica Harris' POV**_

 _May fortune favor you, Alex._ _I doubt we'll ever see each other again._

Fifteen years.

For fifteen years she'd been preparing for this moment.

Ever since the dream had come to her showing her what might come to pass in the coming years and terrified her to the very core of her being. She'd tried to ignore it, tried to convince herself that she wasn't her mother, but when the dream kept coming to her every other night for three months straight she finally gave in. As much as she'd wanted to believe otherwise, she'd been forced to accept that she really was her mother's daughter after all and so she'd have to deal with what she'd seen. For weeks she considered the possibilities, the options, employing the same methods that her mother had already proven worked. In the end though only three possible outcomes manifested themselves with the things that needed to be done to bring one of them into being laid out for her.

One possible outcome had him returning to Sunnydale, living out his life, and helping his friends fight monsters that scared her to the bone. He'd face hardships, he'd face loss and he'd be scarred in every way imaginable, causing him to change in ways both good as well as bad. While not completely bad she'd known enough that she refused to see her darling baby boy put through such horror and pain.

The second possibility had looked like she'd hit the mother lode early on but it soured quickly after a year or two. One of the reasons why she'd chosen to come to Sunnydale in the first place was to hide from HIM and it was inevitable that they'd be exposed if they left. By 'they' she had meant her and Xander once she went to the police and filed assault and battery charges against Tony, among other things. If she'd done that they would've left Sunnydale just before Alex would've met Willow Rosenberg and Jesse McNally to restart their lives someplace else. If they'd done that, though, HE would've found them or one of the enemies he no doubt had and then it would all end badly.

In the end she'd been forced to go with this third possibility, wherein she would give her son the means to break free from the hell he'd been put through all his life. It was not without heartache, not without sorrow, but it held the promise of one day bestowing upon her son the happiness and contentment she fervently believed he deserved. Sadly with this possibility she hadn't been able to see herself enjoying that future with him but she'd gone ahead with it just the same. From that day onward she'd worked to a plan only she knew doing things by the numbers no matter how much it hurt her to do them or how much they hurt Alex. It was torture for the both of them but it also helped lay the groundwork for what was to come so some might call it an even trade off.

There was just one more thing to do and then she'd be done.

"WOMAN! GET ME THAT SIX PACK FROM THE FRIDGE **NOW!** " Tony yelled from his recliner in the living room.

"Yes dear!" she yelled back before making her way to the kitchen.

It didn't take her long to get there but, unlike what the drunken piece of shit probably thought, she had no intention of getting him ANYTHING anymore. Moving over to the gas stove, it took some doing to get access to the gas line in back but she managed to yank it out, just the same letting all that invisible death come pouring out. It'd take a while for it to fill up the house but that'd make sure that Alex was well out of Sunnydale when the time came for the final step. Thus, with her course set and fate chosen, she pulled out one of those cheap lighters from the convenience stores everywhere and waited as long as she could to do what needed to be done. Minutes ticked by and, if Alex was driving at the posted speed limit, he'd just be leaving the outskirts of Sunnydale in time for the big finale.

"WHERE THE HELL IS MY FUCKIN' SIX PACK, BITCH!?" Tony yelled from the living room, his patience just about gone.

 _Got to drag this out a few more minutes._ _If Alex hears anything suspicious he might turn around and that'd ruin everything._

She stalled for as long as she could but eventually the scraping footsteps of Tony reached her ears and she knew he was on his way to the kitchen to 'convey his displeasure' at how long she was taking. Getting back into position near the stove, she estimated that the entire first floor of the house was now filled with gas and, while she'd prefer that the ENTIRE house was filled, she was out of time. As she watched the filthy, drunken, abusive piece of SHIT come into view, she had to wonder what she'd been thinking when she'd thrown her lot in with him. Sure, he'd seemed charming at the time and with Alex to take care of she hadn't really been in a position to be picky when it came to sources of support but his drinking issues has been visible from the first date. Now, though, it was time to say the one thing she'd always wanted to but never could before now.

"You nickel and dime WHORE! I told you to get my BEER!" Tony roared with a slight slurring to his words. "I am the KING of this CASTLE! You'll do as you're FUCKIN' told!"

"Not any more, Tony," she said as she took off the bracelet she'd worn since she was a teenager. "Not ever again. SEE YOU IN HELL!"

With that she ignited the lighter and in the blink of an eye fire and pain became all she knew.

A pain that she knew would last for as long as her guilt did.

 _ **Approaching Oxnard, California**_

 _ **Early Evening, Xander's POV**_

It's never a good thing when you see smoke rising from the hood of your car, especially not when it's accompanied by the sounds of an engine struggling to keep chugging along like a good little soldier.

He eventually wound up doing what anyone would do in his position and that was pull over to the side of the road so he could try to fix the engine in peace. Coming to a stop right below a nearby lamp post, he turned the engine off and got out of the car, hoping that his time spent with Uncle Rory could help him out. While not entirely respectable, given the man's compulsion to hit on anything with a good rack and a heart-shaped ass, Uncle Rory was an excellent mechanic and made most of his income restoring old cars for people. During the summer he'd often go to his uncle's place to get away from Tony and his mom, often getting roped into helping with the work in the process. He picked up a lot of things and, since the work was restoring cars, he learned all the problems that an automobile could have as well as how to fix them. Naturally whether or not he could fix his car would depend on how bad it was because, if it needed something more than tools he had in the trunk, he was essentially stuck.

Popping the hood, he waited for the smoke to clear before flicking on the flashlight he'd grabbed on his way out of the car. Panning the light over the engine, it didn't take long to find out where the problem was and so for a solid three minutes he went through every curse word he knew. He'd been SABOTAGED! Rather incompetently, too, from the looks of the handiwork, but fortunately whoever it was proved that he was too stupid to live by practically signing his work. Wrapped around one of the tubes sticking out of the engine was a torn sleeve belonging to a shirt owned by Tony Harris. It didn't take him long to figure out why his oh-so-hated sperm contributor had done this since all he had to do was think like a selfish and abusive prick. The bastard probably hadn't wanted to go even a week without his own personal punching bag and slave, so the asshole sabotaged the car so that it'd break down before getting very far.

 _Of course Tony probably wanted me to break down before getting out of Sunnydale._ _Idiot couldn't even rig the car right!_

After ten minutes of contemplation regarding the state of his car's engine, he came to the inescapable conclusion, based on his limited mechanical knowledge, that it was a total write off. He'd probably need to have the entire engine replaced and lord knew how much it'd cost him to get one compatible with the car, never mind one that was made the same year as the car itself. He thought about going through his sizeable list of curses again but, with a sigh, he realized that there wasn't much point in doing that since it wouldn't fix the car. Instead he popped the trunk and grabbed his bags so he could hoof it into Oxnard to find a garage that was still open so he could get his car towed in. Thanks to the stash of cash his mother gave him he should be able to afford repairs if the mechanic there turned out to be more knowledgeable and more resourceful than him, or at least get him a decent rental.

Once he had everything he needed from the car he turned toward the distant lights of Oxnard but stopped when a flash of light from a source behind him caught his attention. Turning, he found himself looking at a man in his mid-forties wearing a suit that looked like it cost more than everything he owned striding towards him. Considering he didn't see another car and hadn't heard his approach as long as he should've, it was understandable that his Hellmouth-o-meter was beginning to ping a bit. He didn't go immediately to red alert since he should've been far enough from Sunnydale to not be affected by the weirdness that was vamps, demons and magic. Nevertheless, he was still wary enough to slip a hand slowly towards the blessed dagger he kept tucked beneath his belt right under his shirt.

"Having some trouble, young man?" the unknown guy asked, strolling up as casually as possible.

"Yeah. My engine gave out and I don't have the tools or the parts to fix it out here," he replied as his fingers wrapped around the hilt of the dagger. "I was planning on walking into to town to get a tow truck."

"You can't call it in?" the man asked without giving off any suspicious signs.

"Nope. Don't have a cell phone."

"Right. I guess it would be rather hard to get one saving up all the spare change lying beneath the sofa cushions, Alexander Harris," rhe man said with a twinkle in his eyes and with a small smirk.

His Hellmouth-o-meter just spiked to yellow alert since it was not a good sign when a complete stranger both knew his name as well has how he'd gotten his spending money the last ten years. Taking a step back and falling into a somewhat casual defensive posture, he waited to see what the stranger's next move would be.

"Be at ease, Alexander," the man said bringing his hands up in the universal 'I mean no harm' position. "If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done it when your back was turned."

The guy had a point.

Most bad guys didn't care all that much about how bad it made them look to shoot an enemy from behind. Still, he wasn't about to let his guard down just yet since it was still possible that he was experiencing a 'lull into a false sense of security' moment. Until this guy did something specific that didn't fit with the usual big bad M.O., he would assume the worst and be prepared to fight.

"So what DO you want?" he asked, hoping that it wasn't something weird.

"Suffice it to say I have a proposition for you," the man replied with his smirk evolving into a smile. "I'm aware of your 'nighttime activities' and how your friends tried to force you off the battlefield against your will. I imagine you're concerned that once you return from your little field trip they'll try it again. What if I could help prevent that?"

"What exactly do you have in mind?" he asked, deciding to find out what kind of juicy treat was going to dangled in front of his eyes.

"What would you say if I told you that Anthony Harris isn't your biological father?" the man asked, never losing his smile.

"I'd say 'what's your proof?'."

"Well, I could give you the detailed genetic explanation but I think this will suffice." The man tapped his watch, causing a hologram of two strands of DNA floating side by side. "The strand on your left is your DNA while the strand on the right belongs to Anthony Harris. As you've no doubt been taught, a child's DNA made from the two halves of his parents' DNA, but when I compare these two strands…"

The two strands overlapped one another before 'NO MATCH' began flashing on and off every couple of seconds.

"Doesn't really prove much," he said, not willing to be sold just yet. "Just means you've got a fancy light show and a hologram that says what you want it to say. Just out of curiosity, though, if Tony isn't my Dad then who is?"

"He's someone who's been in the news from time to time alongside some other rather colorfully dressed individuals." The man tapped his watch again to change the image being projected. "Tell me, do you recognize this man?"

The image now being projected was of a man in the air with short black hair and pointy ears wearing what looked to be a green scaled Speedo and golden armbands. Also, if only to add to the weird look, there were a pair of little wings on each foot right about where the ankles were located but still he did recognize the man.

"Of course. That's Namor. Avenger, businessman and supposedly the King of Atlantis."

"Supposedly? You mean you don't believe that to be the case?" the man asked with genuine surprise.

"People can claim to be a lot of things but I haven't seen any news footage or pictures proving Atlantis exists, much less that Namor's really the king there," he replied, laying out his opinion. "Sure, there've been a couple of so-called invasions from armies that look like they could be from there but in this day and age it can be faked."

"An interesting position, Alexander. Nevertheless, he is your biological father," the man said, turning off the hologram generator. "While not all incidents have reached the ears of the media, Namor is something of a ladies man. It is not uncommon for him to enter into temporary relationships with a woman that has caught his eye only to cast her aside a few months later. While not reaching the disgusting levels of Tony Stark or Jonathan Storm, Namor did enjoy his conquests and that includes your mother Jessica."

"Slight hole in your story, buddy. If Namor is my dear ol' bio-dad then where are the point ears? Hell, where are the wings that're supposed to be growing out of my ankles?"

"As any genetics expert could tell you, Alexander, that sometimes a child takes after their mother while other times they take after their father. At the same time how heavily the child takes after one of their parents varies as well," the man, replied not looking discouraged in the least. "In your case you take strongly after your mother, which is why the genes you inherited from Namor never manifested physically. That doesn't mean you didn't get any benefits from him though or did you really think you just got lucky all those times a vampire or a demon hit you?"

An interesting point that was at least enough to convince him to listen to the stranger a little longer to see where all this was leading.

"So if I'm dear old Namor's bouncing baby boy then where's he been all my life?" he asked with a trace of true bitterness in his voice. "Why leave my Mom in Tony Harris' not so kind clutches?"

"It's likely your mother didn't even realize she was pregnant until weeks after her encounter with Namor. As for your biological father, he likely had other concerns at the time, such as Avenger duties, and so never gave the encounter a second thought." The man sounded like he was trying to appear sympathetic, but something was still missing. "Once your mother realized she was pregnant she likely didn't know how to get in touch with him or even if he would take responsibility for what he'd done. Easier to just marry a man more accessible like Anthony Harris than file a paternity suit against an Avenger and Atlantian royalty."

Point.

You'd need a seriously high flying lawyer to make something like that work and those were pretty expensive last time he checked. Plus, in all the TV interviews he'd seen of Namor, the guy sounded about as arrogant as a person could get and still survive. A person like that probably thought that he can bed as many women as he liked and not have to take responsibility for any children that are born. Jerk probably figured it was his royal right to do things like that and that the women should be grateful that he deigned to notice them enough to embark on a night of pleasure with them.

"Okay, assuming I buy all this and you're not just making it all up, what exactly are you offering? Bottom line?" he asked, deciding it was time to get to the fine print.

"I have the means to reverse things for you, genetically speaking, thus making your father's genes dominant rather than your mother's genes." The man looked glad to get to the core of the matter. "As a result you would gain many of your father's special abilities, including superhuman speed, stamina, agility and durability, as well as, of course, strength. Not to the same degree, of course, since you will be only one quarter Atlantean, but still quite sufficient to make you a match for any threat you might face in your hometown fighting alongside the Slayer."

It was an interesting proposition but he was still wary since he knew next to nothing about the guy, much less whether or not he was trustworthy. For all he knew the guy was planning on using him for some science experiment to turn him into some kind of zombie soldier. Still… he had a chance to finally become a real contributor to the Scooby gang, in a way that would make it impossible for anyone to kick him out, and save some real lives. Not that he hadn't done so already the last three years but superpowers meant more options and that'd leave to more lives being saved. Plus, if this wound up giving him a buff bod, then maybe his luck with women would finally change for the better.

However there had to be a catch, an angle, because no one would offer something like this without wanting something in return especially if they used the word 'proposition'.

"So what's the price tag for this 'upgrade'?" he asked, looking the man right in the eyes to make sure he spotted any signs of deception. "You said this was a proposition and that usually means both sides get something out of the deal."

"The 'price tag', as you put it, is quite simple." The man again looked pleased that he was being asked such relevant questions. "I have a… well, let's call him a little brother shall we… who's run away from home and I fear he may have gone to some rather annoying individuals for protection since it's inevitable that I'll find him. If you agree to the proposal all that I ask is that you retrieve him and bring him to me."

"And the reason why you can't get him yourself?" he asked as things began to sound like a kidnapping.

"I could go myself but that would only complicate things and potentially make a mess. The people my little brother has gone to don't exactly like how I do business and I fear they'll fight me out of sheer spite if I go in person." The man looked amused at the concept. "However if an unknown shows up requesting my brother's return, they're less likely to react violently, especially if you don't mention me by name. Basically it'll mean less of a commotion if I'm not there in person."

"And I take it since you plan on giving me the Namor makeover that you don't think your brother's just going to surrender without a fight?" he asked, figuring that'd be the only reason to give him super powers for a job like this.

"Yes. Unfortunately he's something of a rebel and, despite having certain obligations to both our family and our business, he chose to reject both before running off." The man gave a disappointed shake of his head. "As such the moment you mention returning home he'll reject the idea and use anything or anyone he can to prevent you from retrieving him. Thus it will be necessary for you to be more than just a brave young man. You will need your father's strength."

 _This sounds fishy. If his little bro doesn't want to have anything to do with his family or business then that's that. It's a free country after all and that means it's wrong to force someone to do something he doesn't want to do._ He frowned as he thought things through. _The only way it'd even be close to being right is if the little brother signed a contract knowing exactly what he was getting into. If that's the case then little bro is a welcher, in which case dragging him back wouldn't be a bad thing. Guess there's only one thing to do._

"Alright you've got a deal. Under two conditions."

"And they are?" the man asked, looking pleased.

"I'll do your little deal but the second something pops up that contradicts your little story or makes retrieving your little brother less than legal, I get to walk away, with the upgrades, without any nasty consequences from you." He made it clear he wouldn't budge on this issue. "And secondly YOU pay for the repairs to my car here to get it in perfect working order."

"Done and done. I'm glad we could reach an agreement," the man said before extending his left hand for a handshake. "To the successful conclusion of our arrangement, Alexander."

Not seeing the harm in it he took the offered hand and gave it a good shake.

When light blinded him and disorientation followed, he seriously began to wonder if he'd made a terrible mistake.

 _ **The Fortieth Century, Kang's Private Laboratory, One Second After Leaving This Time Period**_

 _ **Kang's POV**_

 _The boy certainly has one thing over his moronic father,_ he thought soon after temporal transit concluded. _He is not so foolishly arrogant so as to think he can overcome anything with his power. This one actually uses his mind first._

"Where the hell…?" Alexander asked, looking around in disbelief at the advanced technology that surrounded him. "Where are we?"

"The correct question would be 'when', not 'where', Alexander, and the answer to that is my lab in the fortieth century," he replied as he used his armor's functions to change into something more appropriate. "To help fill in the blanks for you my name is Nathaniel Richards and, before you ask, yes, I am a descendant of Mister Fantastic, aka Reed Richards. It is from this time period that my little brother, who has taken on the name 'Iron Lad', chose to flee into the past. Ever since the time of the heroic leader of the Fantastic Four our family has always striven to guide humanity and protect it. Sadly Iron Lad chose to reject the responsibility and obligation of his lineage and, before I could persuade him otherwise, he took his armor and fled. It is he who you must retrieve."

"And you didn't think to tell me all this before WHY?" Alexander asked, sounding a little irritated at the fact that relevant information had been omitted.

"You might've rejected my offer out of fear." he replied honestly even though he would've taken the boy by force if that had happened. "Now that you're here and hopefully realize that I am the only one capable of returning you to your correct era, I hope that things will go a lot smoother."

"You tricked me!" Alex growled, clearly not happy about being manipulated.

Predictable.

"Not in the slightest. I laid out my proposal and agreed to your terms." he said calmly as he prepared the genetic remodulator for the boy. "The fact that I omitted when your upgrades would take place was not relevant to our arrangement. Now while attacking me might be your first impulse, Alexander, I suggest you consider when you are and what the odds are that you'll be able to operate my technology to send yourself back without me. Like me or not, I'm you're only way home."

For a moment he could tell that the teenager was contemplating attacking and taking his chances but fortunately he surpassed his father once more by not acting on his hot headed impulses. With visible reluctance the boy took on a more at ease posture but the look of anger never left his eyes.

Not unexpected but acceptable.

After the pod connected to the genetic remodulator opened, he gestured for the lad to get inside and, with a sour look on his face, he did. Once the door slid shut he immediately administered a sedative to the teenager and employed a focused neutron wave to remove the inappropriate clothing. Alexander would need to wear something decidedly more durable as well as suitable for him to complete his task and besides, those Hawaiian print shirts had wisely been outlawed since the twenty-third century.

It began with a basic scan of the young man's body, focusing on his DNA, naturally, in order to see precisely what he had to work with. He was certain there'd be enough of Namor's DNA to ensure that his son would prove a formidable warrior but he wondered if he should not go a little bit further with his efforts. It wouldn't be too difficult to bring young Alexander closer to being a half Atlantean and half human but the question was whether or not that would have any downsides. After all, Namor did have a number of weaknesses due to his mixed lineage, such as his superhuman abilities being dependent on regular exposure to water and his susceptibility to oxygen imbalance. Would these same flaws appear in Alexander if he were brought too close to being a half-breed? Possibly. Therefore he would increase the presence of Atlantean DNA by increments while watching for the genetic markers consistent with those weaknesses.

 _There's also the matter of Namor's ability to fly,_ he thought as he finally located the genetic material that came from the ruler of Atlantis. _It isn't a trait of his underwater brethren but rather a mutation unique to him._

"Computer: access DNA database. Locate and open flight database," he ordered as he finished his scan on Alexander. "Access file: Namor. Begin computations for gene integration into current subject."

"File accessed. Beginning computations," the artificial intelligence of his computer network said as a window in the corner of the holo-screen began to display complex formulas. "Estimated time to completion three point four five minutes."

Leaving the A.I he had created himself to its task, he began examining the results of the scan, dividing them into genetic material from Alexander's mother and genetic material from his father. It was a rather rudimentary process to look it over since he'd long since mastered the science of genetics, so before much longer he had already located the genes responsible for Namor's superhuman abilities. Cataloguing each as he found them so that they could be activated later, it didn't take him long before he found all the ones he needed. Looking at the mother's genetic information, he decided that he might as well give that information a once over as well just in case there was a latent x-gene to be had or some other anomaly he could exploit. It was as he reached the halfway point that he discovered something intriguing that made him wonder if the Atlantean king had seen Jessica Harris as something more than just a conquest when they'd met. The genes he found were just barely enough for him to give the teenage boy the desired ability but it would prove quite useful, especially if the lad for some reason was unable to be close to the people he desired. Marking the relevant genes for enhancement, he finished his perusal of Jessica Harris' DNA just as the computations for flight finished.

"Target selected gene sequences. Prepare to initiate full genetic resequencing and augmentation on my mark." He began to manipulate the necessary settings to what his vast intellect told him they needed to be at. "Bring primary, secondary and tertiary safety protocols online."

"Targeting selected sequences. Ready for full genetic resequencing and augmentation. All safety protocols online." The artificial intelligence said as the relevant readouts appeared on the holographic screen.

"Then INITIATE!" he ordered and watched as the pod containing young Alexander Harris filled with a combination of white and gold energy.

It was a process he'd seen many a time during his long years of forging his empire but still it held some fascination for him watching as his machines disassembled the young man, resequenced the genetic material to make the desired traits dominant, and then reassembled him. In a way it looked like the teleportation special effects shown in that twentieth century science fiction show about a Federation and a continuing mission. The process repeated itself multiple times, once for every gene that needed to be resequenced and enhanced, but after an hour of work he was able to smile at a job well done. Performing an after action scan on young Alexander, he was pleased to see that all the changes had taken nicely and there were no signs of rejection or cellular breakdown. Not that he really expected any differently, given his intellect, but he'd been surprised enough over the years to know better than to take careless chances.

Looking at the young man physically, he could see that Alexander now sported the pointed ears of his father and a quick check confirmed the presence of gills behind the ears. Vestigial wings adorned both sides of each foot and preliminary scans confirmed the presence of an invisible energy field consistent with what his armor's scans had detected around Namor while the ruler was in flight. All in all it looked as though everything had turned out precisely as he needed them to be but he'd have to wait until the young man woke up to see if his mother's donation was active.

 _It will be a while before the sedatives wear off and his body recovers from the alterations._ He set his artificial intelligence to monitor the boy and notify him if anything life threatening transpired. _I believe it's time I acquired his teammates._

Of the four he'd selected he predicted only the two muscle bound ones would give him any trouble due to the fact that the first might recognize him and the latter would be so focused on her mission that she wouldn't even listen to him. Fortunately he had ways of making them listen to him and incentives that would make each of them pause to consider the pros and cons of carrying out his request. A much needed circuit board here, a forgotten mystical hammer there, upgrades that would put her suit twenty years ahead of its original creator and last but not least, a new lease on life.

Now who could say no to that?

 _ **Earth, New York City, Beneath Park Avenue, Early Afternoon, 2009 A.D**_

When he arrived at the required space-time co-ordinates he looked about and saw much what he'd come to expect based on historical records as well as his own experiences.

A subway tunnel with the sound of a train swiftly approaching with various amounts of graffiti decorating the walls, with flickering light fixtures illuminating the area every dozen or so feet. It would still be a minute or two before his next recruit showed up so he had time to alter his appearance into something a bit more… reassuring. With a slight tingle he could feel his armor shift and its built in solid light holographic generators produce an image of a woman clad in primitive armor with a few technological devices scattered throughout. To the one he was to meet he would appear to be a woman not unlike herself, who while unknown held the means to not only help her accomplish her mission but also grant her people the means to avoid their little problem forever more. Once his new female appearance was in place and the vocal processors were set to a suitably Amazonian voice, there was just one final precaution.

He modulated the energy he and his armor were giving off so that it would fool one capable of perceiving gamma energy and its interactions with things both natural as well as artificial.

With the familiar effect he watched her appear and, once the young woman's temporal transition finished, he immediately locked both of them in the space between seconds. After all he imagined that it'd take more than the sixty seconds it'd take for the subway train to reach their position to convince the lovely green-skinned lady to take his offer.

"Welcome Lyra, proud warrior of the United Sisterhood Republic, to the twenty-first century." he said while affecting a wise and experienced tone of voice.

"Who are you?" Lyra asked, not sounding as though she'd come to her own conclusions just yet.

"My name is Revanna and I have been anticipating your arrival in this time period for quite some time."

"MISTRESS, BEWARE! A CHRONAL STASIS FIELD HAS ISOLATED YOU FROM THE TIME STREAM!" spoke the digitized voice of the A.I known as Boudicca from the wrist device Lyra had.

"Indeed. The history files I have access to tell me much about you, when you come from and why you have come to this time period," he said, taking the honest route with his recruit. "It is why I am here. I need your help."

"I have no time to help anyone. I am on a mission of my own." Lyra said politely yet firmly. "Now release me from your stasis field."

"I am well aware of your mission to mate with the strongest warrior of this time period in order to ensure the future of your sisterhood," he said before dropping the first bit of information to get her interest. "I also know that the only reason you've been sent here is because a valuable circuit board from the Cradle of your enemies was destroyed during a fight with one whom you considered a sister. What if I told you that I could not only give you a replacement circuit board but also a selection of genetic samples of the strongest warriors, both men and women, that this time period has to offer? Would you be willing to listen to my request then?"

He could tell just from the look in Lyra's eyes that he did indeed have her undivided attention but just to seal the deal he took out the circuit board he'd replicated back in his lab for just this moment. It was identical to the one the daughter of the Hulk had been sent to retrieve and had even had the programming on it upgraded to maximize how long the Sisterhood could continue its method of replenishing their numbers. When added to that the genetic samples, they would be able to produce warriors capable of finally wiping out the tribes of men scattered over their timeline's Earth, achieving the peace they desired.

"What is it that you want?" Lyra asked, taking a more at ease posture.

"There is someone I need you to retrieve for me in another time period. Someone who is unlikely to come willingly and who I believe has recruited powerful individuals such as yourself to protect himself from me," he replied, deciding on a summarized version of the story he'd given Alexander. "This is who I need you to bring to me."

He utilized the controls on forearm of his armor that coincided with what his disguise was wearing he projected an image of his younger self clad in the 'Iron Lad' armor minus the helmet. Allowing it to rotate so as to show Lyra what he looked like from all angles for a few minutes, he could tell her suspicion level had gone up. A natural response to someone raised in a society that taught its members that all men are evil, destructive and that the planet would be better off without them.

"Why do you need this man?" she asked, sounding like she wanted a good reason.

"Unlike the time that you come from I live in a world where we have finally managed to purge men of their destructive impulses, taught them a better way and have enjoyed a peace that has lasted for over three centuries," he replied, spinning a tale Lyra would be more receptive to. "Sadly this one… my little brother… has always had a fascination with the past and the old ways. He is a student of history and when he came upon the tales of what you refer to as the overmen, he desired more than anything to become one of them. I learned the hard way that the thirst for power is not something that can be purged.

"The armor you see him wearing is a new creation of our people designed with the intent of exploring the stars. However he modified it into a weapon and, with our time travel technology, he is more dangerous than you can imagine." He then pretended to get emotionally upset. "I just want to get him back home where he can get the help he needs. He's young and the young make mistakes. Will you help me?"

There was silence for a time as the green skinned woman thought over what he'd told her and, much like Alexander, he suspected she was weighing the costs against the benefits. While this was good in that it proved that two of his recruits had minds of their own and could actually use them effectively, it also meant that those same sharp minds could turn against him. Thankfully all he needed was for his recruits to allow him to transport them out of their current time period and he would have a sizeable bargaining chip to work with to ensure their compliance. For the time being, though, he would keep up his current charade if only because it amused him a bit and would be less bothersome than fighting each of his new agents to force their submission.

"Fine. I will aid you in retrieving your brother, however I want the circuit board now." Lyra declared, holding out her right hand for the requested item.

It was a risk, the woman could simply run off with one half of her compensation and leave him behind, but heroic types tended to be honorable enough to hold up their end of the bargain. Levitating the circuit board over to Lyra, he decided to help her just a little bit more. Without warning he teleported the two of them to the location where the young woman originally buried the replacement part in the old timeline before he interfered.

"Where are we now?" she asked him with a touch more suspicion.

"A place far from the law enforcers that claim jurisdiction over any temporal incursions that occur without their permission. I thought it prudent to put some distance between us and them in order to ensure that they do not damage your prize before you can hide it for your Sisterhood to find in the future." He gestured to the land around them, "This place is just a short distance from your Republic's capitol and I've scanned the historical records to ensure that it won't be developed or changed between this time period and the one you come from. Bury the circuit board here, have your 'assistant' notify your leadership of its location and it will find its way into their hands without fail."

With a nod Lyra went to work placing the circuit board in a sealed plastic bag before using her superior strength to make easy work of digging a sufficiently deep hole to keep her prize concealed until her Sisterhood found it in the future. It only took a few minutes for the woman to complete her task and, when she was done, she stood before him ready to aid him in the recovery of his younger self.

"Now we can go." She declared looking ready to fulfill her end of the bargain.

"Then let us be off," he said, never dropping his disguise. "I still have three more members of your team to recruit."

"Team?" was all Lyra was able to get out before he activated the temporal displacement generator taking them to the next stop on his travels.

 _ **Earth-982, New York City, Avenger's Mansion, Training Room**_

In a flash he went from a patch of wilderness to the inside of a primitive training room for beings with superhuman abilities.

Neither he nor Lyra could be detected by those training below because he'd made sure that the two of them were slightly out of sync with the timeline, making it so that only the most sophisticated technology would even know something was amiss. He supposed that it might be possible that the cavemen of this timeline might be capable of some measure of detection but only if they knew in advance what they were looking for.

In this case they did not.

"Who are you here to recruit?" Lyra asked, looking at the assortment of costumed individuals below.

"Her," he replied, pointing to the blonde teenager currently smashing a robot with a large metal hammer.

Given her garb it was obvious who the young woman was trying to emulate but fortunately his armor's sensors, as well as the ones back at his lab, confirmed that she was indeed who she claimed to be.

Thena, daughter of Thor and the Lady Sif, princess of the mystical realm of Asgard and resident of a timeline fifteen years ahead and to the right of the one he needed her to be in.

The young blonde possessed all the natural gifts that Asgardians possessed: superhuman strength allowing her to lift up to forty-five tons, increased durability, endurance and longevity. She also possessed the ability to fly and summon violent thunderstorms even though she did not possess Mjolnir like her father did. Trained by the warriors of Asgard, her only weapon at the moment was a hammer provided to her by the new generation of Avengers made out of one-ton titanium alloy. While not nearly as potent and durable as her father's hammer, it was still enough to suit her current level of opposition. However against what he would have her face, she would need something more and thankfully he already had it stored away in a pocket dimension.

All that he needed to do now was to speak with her and ask for her aid.

However, given her lineage, it was possible that her father had told her about him, or at least this timeline's version of him. He would need to retain his current disguise and pull Thena out of time with the world around her so that the mansion's primitive sensors would complicate matters. With a mental command the world around Lyra and him froze, leaving only the potential recruit with the ability to move about.

"What sorcery is this?" Thena asked, sounding ready for a fight.

"Not sorcery, princess of Asgard," he replied through hid female disguise. "Technology. More precisely I have stopped the progression of time for you so that we now exist between the previous second and the next. I wanted to have a word with you in private on a matter most important."

"Then speak, woman! The heir royal shall hear what you have to say." Thena said arrogantly, making him think of how her father had been prior to gaining a measure of humility.

She told the hammer wielder the same story she told Lyra, not wanting discrepancies to breed suspicion, and then waited to see if need would be enough to secure the young woman's aid.

"If it is so urgent that your brother be retrieved then why do you not retrieve him thyself?" Thena asked, sounding like such a simple chore was beneath her.

"I would if I were able to without causing damage to the timeline," he replied, placing a bit of the truth in with the lie. "Due to the nature of the time travel technology available to my family, if two members exist in the same period at the same time, ripples would be sent both forward as well as backward along the timeline. Think of it as a sort of temporal resonance. That is why I have chosen to find allies whom I can send without disrupting the timeline irreparably. Lyra here is one, you would be another should you agree to aid me, and there are two more that I will seek out for aid. Together, no matter whom my dear brother hides behind for protection, you will prevail."

"If the opposition that awaits is so fierce then allow my allies here to join the fight," she said, gesturing to the still frozen next generation members of the Avengers. "They are worthy warriors."

"Sadly I cannot. Removing one person from a specific timeline is difficult enough," he replied with feigned regret. "To remove more, even if I returned then one second after they left, would cause a temporal anomaly that would be beyond my ability to remedy."

This was not entirely true, he could fix such a time problem with his abilities, but they didn't need to know about that.

"While I am sympathetic to your cause, I must decline," she said with remorse in her tone. "As the heir to the throne of Asgard I have certain responsibilities and have already divided my time enough to become a member of the Avengers. Also my father would no doubt not approve of aiding one as powerful yet unknown as you."

 _What a transparent effort! The girl thinks to induce me to sweeten the deal rather than nobly aid a stranger in need._ He barely restrained a snort of contempt. _Clearly this timeline's Thor sent her to receive the same medicine he partook of when exiled by Odin to Earth. It is only right, then, that I do what I can to ensure humility keeps the young thunderer from making any foolish mistakes._

With a single command to his armor be brought the 'incentive' he had picked up after leaving Alexander to recover into the timeline for all to see.

"Why is Mjolnir in your possession!?" Thena asked with growing rage. "What hast thou done with my father!?"

"Calm yourself, daughter of Thor, for this hammer does not belong to your father, but rather to a Thor that has long since fallen into darkness. In the timeline I took this from he had already succumbed to a terrible ailment that cursed both mortals and gods into becoming the walking dead," he replied while gesturing for her to calm down. "It was a disease brought forth from a neighboring reality and all it took was a single bite, a single scratch, to begin the transformation from living being to rotting body. The Thor of this reality was infected while defending a device that could've allowed the infected mortals to cross over into yet another reality to ravage it as they already had their own. In the end, though, he was forced to destroy the device when it became clear that he and his allies would lose and soon after became infected with the disease himself."

He could see that the news had shocked Thena but, like most, there was growing denial within her that refused to believe one she admired so much could fall in such a manner.

"Thus with his fall into darkness he was no longer worthy to wield the Mjolnir of that timeline and so it fell to ground, never to be lifted by another living soul." He used his powers to levitate the acquired hammer to Thena's feet. "Will you be the one to redeem it, Lady Thena? Will you take up this fallen Thor's hammer? Try it. See if it finds you worthy of its might."

He could see the forces warring within her, the battle between caution and desire, but her arrogance and her admiration for her father won just as he'd expected. Casting the titanium alloy hammer aside she reached down and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the hammer before bringing her Asgardian strength to bear. For a moment nothing happened, and he thought perhaps he would have to revise his plans, but then, to his glee, he watched as the hammer left the ground and knew the enchantments had decided in Thena's favor. Lightning arced over her body from the head of the hammer as the power that had once been the zombified Thor's filled the body of his other dimensional daughter. While the young blonde woman didn't physically change, his armor told him that her power had grown significantly but, while it potentially matched his records of Thor, it wasn't quite as… refined as the thunderer he'd fought before.

 _No matter._ _It will suffice for what I require her to do._

"GLORIOUS! I can feel Mjolnir's power coursing through me!" Thene exclaimed, sounding overjoyed at the development. "It is redeemed! It is reborn!"

"Indeed it is, Lady Thena," he said, genuinely happy for her. "Do you think your Lord father would permit you to aid me in exchange for such a precious gift?"

"Indeed he would, kind lady!" Thena replied, all previous reservations obliterated. "You shall have my aid in the retrieval of your brother!"

"You have my thanks, Lady Thena." he said before locking onto all three of them for temporal displacement. "Now onto our next stop and our next potential ally."

In a flash they were gone without anyone in that particular time period being the wiser.

 _ **Earth-904913, New York City, The Rooftop of the Tomorrow Academy, Noon, Patricia Potts' POV**_

 _I cannot believe those two!_ she thought angrily as she stormed out of the door that led to the stairwell onto the roof of her high school. _I mean, sure, I might have been a little careless with those last few repulsor blasts and, yeah, a FEW cars might've blown up, but that SO doesn't mean they can treat me like some kind of amateur! I've been a part of Team Iron Man pretty much from the beginning! I've saved BOTH their lives! You'd think that'd mean they'd cut me some slack! UGH!_

And things had been going so WELL up until eight in the morning, too.

It had been a little over a month since they'd defeated the Makluan armada and since then the three of them had been mostly going to school or handling whatever emergency situation came up in their armor. It'd been kinda nice, getting a break and all, but the honest truth was that she was beginning to get a little bored of catching bank robbers and fixing bridges. It was just TOO easy! Guns and grenades couldn't get through their armor but the crooks kept trying. Doing roadwork that was the job of city maintenance felt like such a waste of their time! So she'd just tried to liven things up this morning by trying a few trick shots she'd seen in some of her favorite sci-fi movies. She'd even let the bank robbers get into their getaway car and drive off before she'd chased after them, figuring it'd be more sporting to give them a fighting chance. It'd been FUN!

Well… up until she'd messed up a few shots with her repulsors and blew up some parked cars.

Thank God they'd been empty at the time.

Still, it'd been enough to make Tony and Rhodey butt in and end things quickly. Of course as soon as it was over both of her friends had gotten in her face, calling her reckless, careless and irresponsible. They'd had the nerve to lecture her about how bad things could've gotten if one of her blasts had hit an occupied vehicle or a gas station. Like she didn't KNOW how bad things would've gotten if one of those things had happened! She'd told them to get over it all and that she'd try to do better next time but they just wouldn't let it go. They kept hammering her with the same words over and over again until they'd returned to Tony's lab so they could get out of their armor and go to school. She'd been so mad at them that she'd ignored them from then on and planned on continuing until they apologized for being so mean.

Considering she usually talked enough for five people, that was saying something.

Sitting down on her usual spot, she took out her lunch and began to eat aggressively since her temper still hadn't cooled. If Tony and Rhodey knew what was good for them they wouldn't come up like they usually did… but that would make it impossible for them to say they were sorry, wouldn't it? Okay, so maybe it'd be okay if they came up there but they'd better not expect a warm welcome! She wasn't just going to forgive and forget like some people might consider doing! Nope! Not going to happen!

In a rage she crumpled up the empty bag of chips she'd finished and threw it as hard as she could away from her. The further it went the more of her anger she let out of herself but then something really, REALLY weird happened when all of a sudden the bag froze in mid-air. She thought she might be seeing things so she waited for the bag to continue on the path she'd sent it on, but nothing happened. Moving over to the plastic bag she tried to figure out what was going on and she even tried to push it but it wouldn't budge.

"What's going on?" she asked out loud, not caring that she was asking this of open air.

"I have taken you outside your timeline. You now exist in the space between seconds, Patricia Potts." Answered an unfamiliar voice to her question.

She jumped in surprise since she definitely hadn't expected anyone to answer her question.

Turning around, she saw something that looked like it belonged in a comic book. Floating a good ten feet off the ground were three women that looked like they couldn't decide whether they wanted to be Vikings or post apocalyptic warriors. Were they superheroes? Were they trying to follow what Tony and Rhodey and her were doing? Were they fans? Were they here for her autograph? Or were they super villains? They didn't look like super villains. Then again what did a super villain really look like? Were their certain colors that only villains used?

She must've been staring and thinking for a while because the woman in the middle coughed once to get her attention.

"I have come from a distant future, Miss Potts, to gain your help in a matter that is of the utmost importance," the woman said with all the seriousness required. "Will you hear what I have to say?"

"Sure. Why not?" she asked rhetorically, still in a bit of shock over the whole situation she'd landed in.

For what could've been half an hour she learned of how the woman sought to retrieve her little brother from the past of her timeline in order to prevent him from doing damage, as well as get him a head shrinker since he obviously needed it. However she still didn't see how she could be of much help. This was so very far outside her realm of experience.

"It sounds pretty bad and all but what can I do?" she asked, hoping that part could be explained to her.

"One of the people that my little brother will likely recruit is the Tony Stark of my timeline. He is in his thirties and has long since been the CEO of his own company. The Iron Man armor he possesses is far more sophisticated than what the Tony Stark you know wears and he is considered to be one of the most brilliant scientists on the planet in his era. However the history files of my time also see a dark path awaiting him. He will turn against his closest friends and imprison other heroes for no other reason then they possess super powers and will not bow to his wishes. I wish for your aid because of who you are and how he will react to you. While his armor might be superior to yours, once he knows who's inside it his ability to fight will be halved."

This sent her back into a state of surprise for a moment before her loyalty to Tony caused her to reject the idea that he would ever betray his friends or imprison the innocent.

"Tony, ANY Tony, would never do that!" she exclaimed, making it clear she didn't believe him.

"Time changes people, Patricia Potts. For the Tony Stark of my timeline, his ambitions and goals delude him into believing that the ends justify the means. That when he's achieved what he desires, all those he betrayed and all those he imprisoned will say 'you were right, Tony. Thank you'," the woman said with sympathy and compassion. "Still, perhaps it is not too late to change that. Perhaps if you catch him in the moment in time you and your teammates will be going to you'll be able to persuade him to alter his course."

It didn't even take her one minute to decide what to do.

"I'm in!" she declared with the resolve. "Just let me get my armor from Tony's, my Tony's, lab and we'll get going!"

"While impressive, I think you'll need something a little better than that." the woman said before a flash of light temporarily blinded her.

When she got her eyesight back standing in front of her was a suit of armor with a white and red color scheme that really looked like what Tony would've worn if he'd been born a girl rather than a guy. Well, the lens for the Uni-beam was a little higher up on the chest and the faceplate as a little more arrow shaped and all, but it still looked way more high tech than her Rescue armor. Best of all, though, it looked like it'd been tailor made for her and would fit like a glove!

"COOL!" she exclaimed as she began to circle the armor so she could see it from all angles.

Needless to say, the more she saw, the more she liked the new armor.

"Want to try it on for size?" the woman asked before the back of the armor opened up like it'd been made with origami.

The second the armor opened wide enough she immediately stepped into it, sliding the rest of her body into it. Once she was in she felt the back plates fall into place until she could feel it covering her body, just like her Rescue armor did, and then the H.U.D flicked on. Watching as it went through some kind of boot up sequence with each function activating in the center before being shrunken down and moved off to the left side or the right side of her field of vision.

"Rescue armor model two online. Scanning operator bio-signs. Saving to security programming authorization sub-routines." Came the voice of one Roberta Rhodes from speakers near her ears. "Welcome, Patricia Potts."

"What the-? Mrs. Rhodes!?" she exclaimed in surprise at this unexpected development.

"It is not actually Roberta Rhodes speaking. Given the differences between this armor and the armor you know, I thought providing you with an artificial intelligence assistant program might help you get used to all the features," the woman explained with a kind smile. "Once you have fully mastered those features, the artificial intelligence will then be charged with monitoring and managing armor systems, as well as alerting you of any important developments."

"Like what?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Such as the level of damage to armor systems, what functions are still available for use and the results of any scans you ask it to do of an object or person," the woman replied, listing a few examples.

"Neat!" she said, bringing her armored hands up to look at them.

Then something occurred to her.

"How long will I be gone? I mean, it won't be more than a couple of days, right?" she asked, not wanting to worry her dad too much.

"If all goes well, Miss Potts, you should not be gone more than a day from your point of view." The woman gave her a reassuring smile. "One of the strong points of being able to travel to any point in time you desire is that you can return home as soon as one second after you left."

"Then let's get this adventure started!" she said, putting her hands on her hips in a heroic pose.

She knew she should be asking more questions, getting more information, but she was just so thrilled by being picked for something like this she didn't want to think about any of the possible bad points. This was her chance to show Tony and Rhodey that she could do the hero thing just fine and that they didn't need them yelling at her all the time.

Plus she might just get to keep this armor when it was all over with and it'd make Tony SO JEALOUS!

 _ **Earth-1610, Stark Mansion, Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, Two Weeks After Liberator Occupation**_

 _ **Janet Van Dyne's POV**_

 _It's gonna be me,_ she thought as she looked down at the rest of the team. _I mean, who else is qualified and has the least amount of baggage to deal with._

It was something they'd been talking about ever since the team had officially broken away from the military and S.H.I.E.L.D, along with all the other concerns involved with going independent. Tony had been able to handle the financial side of things and he was also able to use his company to get them the technology they needed as well. It was still in the works, though, some parts or pieces of equipment were still in transit, but one of the things that hadn't been settled officially yet was who the team leader would be. It'd been debated, of course, during the various meetings they'd had so far but nothing unanimous had been decided.

Tony hadn't been an option due to his playboy lifestyle and drinking issues. They needed someone whose judgment wouldn't be impaired by seven alcoholic drinks a day and someone who didn't have an ego the size of Manhattan. Fortunately the C.E.O had declined after a bit highlighting his inability to see the Black Widow's treasonous nature before she'd all but declared it herself. Naturally the rest of them had tried to reassure him that he wasn't the only one who'd been fooled by the Russian super spy but he wouldn't listen.

Steve had been considered for the role but some of them had been worried about the problems that'd crop up due to the generation gap between Cap and the present. The man had been raised on early twentieth century values and a lot of them were obsolete in the here and now, with others being modified over the years. Sure, he was great on the battlefield, he could fight and knew his tactics, but off the battlefield the man was either clueless or behind in the times. This would cause friction between him and the others on the team, leading to anger as well as mistrust that could manifest itself when they needed to work together the most. A team couldn't function if most of them didn't trust their leader or were angry enough at him for something to ignore his orders. Maybe one day Steve would be able to lead but not until he came more into the twenty-first century in how he thought.

Hawkeye wasn't an option no matter how you looked at it. Ever since his family had been murdered by the Black Widow and her team, the man had either been someone with a death wish or someone just looking for an excuse to use lethal force on a target. When it came to marksmanship there was no one who was better at it but, until he got over the loss of his family and possibly saw a therapist, there was no way he could lead.

No one even considered Thor but thankfully the Norse god wasn't insulted. The man had made it clear that between his duties in his… homeland… and his efforts to help enlighten the world, he barely had the time to be a regular member of the Ultimates. He didn't believe he'd be able to find additional time to take on the responsibilities of team leader as well. No one had a problem with this because, while the blonde guy was a powerhouse, he was clearly the person you sent into a fight, not the one directing it.

As much as people tried to tip-toe around it, neither Wanda nor Pietro were good picks for team leader due to their pasts and the current national opinion of mutants. No one would trust a team led by a mutant. Hell, they had a hard enough time trusting a team with two mutant members! When you added that to the attitude both had gained after years of persecution and their… odd… sibling relationship, you had two people who'd put themselves first over the success of a mission.

Of all the members of the Ultimates, only she had enough experience with being a superhero and with all the team members to qualify for the role as team leader. She also had the least amount of personal baggage that could get in the way of doing her duties. All she had going against her was her chaotic relationship with Hank that kept going from loving to angry to abusive to loving in a cycle that never seemed to end the way she wanted it to. They'd tried everything from marriage counseling to medication for Hank to keep his violent tendencies at bay but nothing really took for very long. Sooner or later he always reverted to type and she wound up with a reason to visit the hospital, or at least take out the first aid kit. Aside from that the only thing she had to deal with was the fact that she was a mutant, but since the only people who knew were her teammates she hadn't had to deal with anti-mutant bigots. She'd been able to keep it a secret ever since her powers had first shown up but more due to luck than skill. If the truth ever came out it would be a nightmare both for her as well as the team.

Still, despite her being the best candidate for team leader, she wasn't sure she was up to the challenge.

 _After all, how can you trust someone who hides what she is from the world and didn't have the sense to walk away from an abusive husband as soon as his true colors showed up?_ she thought bitterly as she started walking to her room.

Others might be willing to make excuses for her that didn't nullify the facts as they stood.

Entering her room, she sat down on the bed and wondered if there was any way she could head off what she felt was coming her way. She'd do the job if she was chosen, do it to the best of her ability, but that didn't mean she wouldn't jump at the chance to pass the buck to someone else if a good enough opportunity presented itself. No one asked for the burdens of leadership, no one who deserved to lead at least, but if they were lucky they managed to do those under their command proud. If they weren't lucky though they lived just long enough to see all that they were responsible for protecting turn to ash.

She never wanted to see that dark outcome.

Just as she was about to find a distraction for herself, a flash of light lit up the room, instantly gaining her attention and putting her on the defensive. She shrunk down to wasp size and prepared to fire her stingers if it turned out that whoever had shown up wasn't friendly. What she saw made her wonder if more superhero fan girls had decided to show up because that's certainly what the four women that stood in her room now looked like. One looked like a female Hulk, only less monstrous, another looked like someone who fit the name 'Thor Girl' to a T, the third looked like someone who'd make Tony's day if he saw her and the last one… well she didn't know how to classify that one. That woman looked like a cross between Amazon warrior and a post apocalyptic warrior but somehow it kinda worked.

"Now I don't mind an all girl slumber party every so often but I usually like to know who'll be coming in advance," she said, not taking her eyes off any of them while hoping mansion security would get her some back up. "Mind telling me who you are and what you're doing in my room?"

"I am the reason we are here and the reason I have come is to seek your aid," the post apocalyptic woman replied respectfully with a nod. "I have a brother who is lost, confused and is playing with forces he cannot comprehend. Not fully. I have gathered these three to help me and I hope that you will join them. Will you hear what I have to say?"

"Sure. Why not?" she asked rhetorically, figuring it'd buy the others enough time to close in and secure the area.

She listened and learned how the leader of the group in front of her tell her the tale of the distant future she came from that, quite frankly, sounded like paradise with only a few snakes living in it that usually didn't live very long. Then came the telling of her little brother who had a serious love of superheroes and super villains who took time travel technology to go back to when they actually existed. The thought of a teenager possessing such advanced technology to rub elbows with his idols, not realizing how different history and reality really were… well, that was enough to worry her. Then the explanation got to the point where the reason for the team came into play, as well as names of her potential new teammates. She'd naturally asked why the woman didn't just go get her little brother herself but when she got the answer, she got the impression the question had been asked before. It all sounded reasonable but in the end she knew she wouldn't be able to take advantage of the situation due to her responsibilities to the Ultimates.

"I'm sorry but I already have a team and I have a responsibility to them."

"That is understandable. However your responsibility to your team and aiding me need not be mutually exclusive," the leader said before holding out a disk with a curved piece of glass in the center.

A moment later it was revealed to be a holographic projector as images appeared mid-air but it was what the images showed though that held her attention the best. First was an image of Wanda's lifeless body lying on a bed in the mansion's infirmary, with a bloody hole in her stomach easily being defined as lethal. Next were images of a massive tidal wave hitting Manhattan with hundreds dying, including people she was able to identify as belonging to the X-Men. However it was the last image that hit her the hardest because it showed her on the ground, eyes rolled up in the back of her head with the mutant known as the Blob EATING HER. It was so shocking that she almost dropped from the air, but fortunately she was able to return to her normal size and get to the bed before her legs gave out.

"These are images from your future, Janet Van Dyne. I would be willing to provide you with the information of how all this came to be so that you can save all those lives, including your own, if you would agree to join this team in the retrieval of my little brother," the leader woman said with some discomfort. "Understand that I find tactics such as these distasteful but the need is great and the threat dire. Please… help me."

While it did rub her the wrong way that this woman would withhold information that could save hundreds of lives, that she would resort to blackmail, she was not completely beyond understanding. The woman's family was at stake as well as her entire timeline if the time travel technology her little brother had fell into the wrong hands. In the end the need to gain the knowledge of how to prevent the catastrophe and save the teenager from his own recklessness decided things for her.

"Very well. I will help you. Just make sure you deliver on your side of things."

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way," the lead woman said with a smile of gratitude.

Then in the blink of an eye light filled the air and she knew there would be no going back now.


	2. The Past, The Present and the Future

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy my work. Therefore I would appreciate it if no lawsuits were sent my way because I can promise that you won't even get enough money to cover your legal fees.

 _ **The Fortieth Century, Kang's Private Laboratory, Twelve Hours Later (Local Time)**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"How do you feel, Alexander?" asked a familiar voice as he opened his eyes.

Seeing his temporary employer standing a few short feet away, he took a moment to get the info he needed to answer and was pleasantly surprised with what his body was telling him. While there was a bit of lingering lethargy left over, he felt like he had ten times the energy he'd had before he'd entered the pod. Moving his arms and flexing his muscles, there was no denying the feeling of power running through them or the fact that they were a good deal more defined then he remembered. Taking a step forward, he found his legs were equally as strong feeling as his arms but it was as he took stock of his body that he noticed something.

He was not wearing the clothes he'd entered the pod wearing.

He found he had on a black bodysuit that felt like it was made up of a fabric much more durable than even the best body armor on the planet. A strip of gray scales went up the middle, making up the middle third of the outfit starting at the knees and going all the way up to a high collared neck. There weren't any sleeves on the bodysuit but that wasn't as bad as the fact that the neckline plunged down to the middle of his stomach. He was a little embarrassed to be showing off his chest but it was more a reflexive feeling since his pectorals looked like they didn't have an ounce of fat on them and had been developed by a dedicated training regime. The same could be said for his abs that led him to notice the golden belt around his waist then the forearm guards of the same material on both arms. He suspected both accessories were made of something a lot more durable since he didn't see the point in wearing them if they'd break with one or two swings of a baseball bat.

"All in all pretty damn good!" he replied with a smile on his face. "Still, are you sure I have powers like Namor? Sure I feel good but that doesn't necessarily mean much."

"Then let's run a few tests. Follow me." Nathaniel said before turning and walking away.

Walking towards the door at the far side of the room, he still couldn't get over the sci-fi look of everything especially when he instinctively knew that this was the real deal rather than something Hollywood set builders made. It was amazing to tell the truth and it made him wonder what exactly he was really getting himself into. He was in the FUTURE for fuck's sake! This was more than hunting demons and vampires. This was different than taking on the end of the school year apocalypse! This was… this was something completely different than anything he'd ever had to deal with in his entire life. However he could not turn back now. Only Nathaniel knew how to operate all this equipment, so only Nathaniel could send him back to his proper point in time. The only way his 'employer' would do that though was if he brought home his little brother alive and only lightly damaged, if at all.

 _Why is it the more I think about it, the more it looks like I've been suckered?_

Keeping his eyes on Nathaniel as he walked, he also took in the other things in his field of vision in order to learn as much as he possibly could. Given the number of guard-like guys standing at attention every dozen or so meters, he figured the odds were pretty good that this was some sort of government or military facility. That and they seemed to like the whole purple-green combo when it came to their clothes and some sort of weird dark blue headgear. It wasn't what he'd have chosen but then this wasn't his time, building or army, so he wasn't going to say anything.

It didn't take them long before they reached their destination but, when the door opened, he found an odd combination of new and old. At first glance it looked like a collection of odd futuristic machines but when he took the time to compare the shapes to what he knew, he began to recognize workout machines. Treadmills, various weight lifting machines that focused on specific muscles and other things that looked like seriously advanced versions of what he knew. An appropriate enough place to figure out if he really was superhuman now or just got the chiseled body that usually went with them.

"Let's start with the treadmill first, Alexander," Nathaniel said, pointing at the device he'd pegged for running exercises upon entering the room. "We'll move on to the weights afterwards."

Getting on, he began at a slow at first before gradually building up speed until he was at a full out sprint where he was pumping his legs as quickly as he possibly could. There was no display to let him know precisely how fast he was going at the moment but he definitely figured that he was going faster than he ever had in gym class.

"That will do, Alexander," Nathaniel said after tapping a few commands into a holo-console. "You topped out at forty-seven miles per hour. Not as fast as your father, who managed sixty miles per hour, but still well above what the fastest normal human is capable of."

 _Cool! If the hero thing ever went south I could really clean up at the Olympics._

Moving over to what looked like a hydraulic press, he got between the two parts before putting both arms up to hold up the top half while making sure his feet were planted properly.

"Ready when you are," he said, looking over at where Nathaniel was standing next to the controls.

"Okay. We'll start at one ton just to let you get a feel for it then go from there." Nathaniel said as he tapped away at the console.

He braced himself for the weight, figuring that it'd probably feel like he was holding a good sized television over his head and, when he felt the top plate push down, he figured he'd be feeling it in seconds, so he waited. And waited. And then he waited some more.

"When are you going to switch on the weight?" he asked, a speck of impatience in his voice.

"I did. One minute ago," Nathaniel replied with a smile on his face. "You are now successfully holding up one ton and if you don't realize it, then I'd wager your upper limits are far above that. "

This surprised him greatly because never in his wildest dreams did he think that he'd ever be strong enough to lift a ton off the ground like it was a pillow. If his guess about Buffy's strength was right that was twice what her limit was and he wasn't even close to breaking a sweat. This both excited him and frightened him because, if he could do more than one ton, then how hard would it be for him to learn control. This wouldn't be like gradually getting used to your strength over the course of several months at the local gym but rather one big boost all at once. He'd seen the examples of Buffy accidently breaking things because she forgot just how strong she really was but that'd be nothing compared to how it'd be for him. If he was as strong as he thought, then he could literally snap people in two just by hugging them too tightly.

"Now I'm going to increase the weight at ten ton increments," Nathaniel said, resuming his tapping on the console. "Let me know when you start to reach your limit."

For the next twenty minutes greater and greater amounts of weight were brought down on him from above but each increment only felt like someone placing another book on top of the stack he was holding. Eventually, though, like all things did, he began to feel the strain of the weight he was being forced to hold up until finally he knew that one more increase would wind up squishing him like a grape.

"That's it! No more!" he declared as his arms began to shake under the strain.

Nathaniel deactivated the weight lifting machine and the pressure he'd been feeling vanished, allowing him to wipe the sweat from his brow. While he wasn't tired from his exertion, no more than carrying a school bag full of books a couple of blocks, he definitely wasn't interested in holding it longer than he had to. Stepping off the machine, he looked to Nathaniel to see just how much weight he'd been holding up before he'd bailed.

"Impressive. You managed to lift one hundred and twenty tons," Nathaniel declared, sounding a bit impressed. "That's only thirty tons less than Namor's recorded limit."

 _A HUNDRED AND TWENTY TONS!?_ he thought in shock, remembering that most commercial aircraft weighed a hundred tons and that was before they added the fuel. _Woah!_

For the next hour his 'employer' put him through a series of tests so that everything that could be tested about his new body was tested. From what they could tell it was pretty consistent across the board that, while close, he wasn't quite spot on the same as Namor in terms of what his powers were. He was always just that little bit less in some way but, just the same, he was in awe of what he was now capable of because it would definitely put him far above any evil residing on the Hellmouth. Heck, it'd be enough to reduce Buffy to the sidekick position in terms of power. He might mess with her a bit for a few laughs but he wouldn't let it go to his head or turn him into a complete jerk.

After all, it was kinda funny: the weakest member of the Scoobies suddenly becoming the strongest.

"Well, I don't know about you but I think this body is mission capable now," he said with a smile of contentment on his face.

"Almost. There are just two more things that need to be tested before we can conclusively end these tests," Nathaniel said, moving towards the door. "Your underwater abilities and your ability to fly."

"Wha…fly? I can fly?" he asked, thinking he had to be hearing things.

"Yes. Fly." Richards replied, sounding quite amused by his surprise.

This was going to be interesting.

 _ **Observation Window, A Short While Later, Lyra's POV**_

"Why do we wait for this one?" she asked as she watched the male move through an obstacle of open air and deep water. "He is male. He will only hinder the rest of us with his base appetites."

Indeed, after seeing how the other three women on her team handled the obstacle course in a different room, she felt confident that they would be able to achieve the mission set before them.

They did not need the Overman.

"I know that you have been raised to see men as little more than animals, Lyra, and I do not expect my words to change that immediately, but please listen. The men that destroyed your world with their fighting, the ones that the male tribes worship, were the worst that the gender had to offer. They were vile, cruel, greedy and ultimately selfish," the woman who'd eventually introduced herself as Ravonna said as she too watched. "However there is good and evil in all humans, whether they be male or female. I know not for certain why the men of your time have yet to display any honor but I can only guess whatever means were left behind to educate them encouraged their fouler desires. Then, over the generations of having these things burned into their minds, they know no other way. Alexander is different, though, since he was raised by different means and in a different time. I do not expect you to like him but I would ask that you trust that his goal will be the same as yours: to retrieve my little brother and return him to me. Trust in that if nothing else."

While she felt there was a speck of wisdom to Ravonna's words, she could not bring herself to see men as anything other than beings of destruction that the whole world would be better off without. Nevertheless, in the interest of completing the mission, she would do her best to keep her instincts regarding men under control and treat this… Alexander… as a comrade. However, if he threatened the success of the mission, she would do whatever she had to do to remove that threat even if it meant killing him.

Seeing the Overman go through the obstacle course, it was clear that he'd only recently gained these powers and had not come near to mastering them. He overshot his landing points, slammed into walls because he could not maneuver properly underwater and did not react well to the sudden appearance of obstacles that had not been there moments earlier. Grudgingly she had to admit that he was learning as he went and, if they had more time, then he would likely prove competent enough in his powers not to be a problem during the mission. However, according to Ravonna, they would be departing on their mission within the hour, so the team would have to be satisfied with whatever experience 'Alexander' could gain in that amount of time.

"So that's out number five, eh?" asked a voice she recognized.

Turning towards the newcomer, she saw Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp, finish growing to normal human size before landing on the ground. When she had first seen the woman, she'd considered the contributions that Janet would make to battle to be the same as her alternate size: small. However, when they had all been put through their own obstacle course, she found that Wasp's speed and maneuverability made her quite difficult to keep track of, especially at that size. When added to the fact that her energy stings were supposed to be strong enough to cause significant pain in all but the most durable of targets and her appraisal of the woman went up. She would be useful in breaking up any coordinated efforts on the part of the opposition as well as any opportunities for a sneak attack.

"Yes. He is inexperienced with his powers and likely is no more familiar with fighting overme… I mean super humans, than a civilian," she replied adjusting her wording to reflect her new situation.

"While he is not familiar dealing with the likes of Venom, Abomination or the Wrecking Crew, Lyra, he has fought beings with superhuman abilities before." Ravonna said, never looking away from the obstacle course below. "In his home town he has fought vampires and demons, not one of which were less than five times as fast or as strong as your average human being. Granted, he tended to leave the battlefield more bruised that most would approve of, but there can be no doubting his resolve."

The Sisterhood had rarely encountered such creatures since most had been wiped out by the catastrophe that obliterated back-in-the-day, but there had still been a few incidents. Still, only the most novice amount the warriors of Milago had trouble dealing with vampires and, as for the demons, they were easy enough to dispatch once you discovered their weaknesses. Still, for someone lacking experience, she supposed it was somewhat impressive that Alexander was able to survive a battle with such an encounter with only minor injuries. Nevertheless, she wouldn't put any faith in him when the fighting started. He, at best, would be a decoy to draw off enemy forces so that she could locate and apprehend the target. Once she had the young man Ravonna sought and brought him back to her, then her mission would be complete.

From there… she did not know where she would go.

Returning to her own time would do naught but subject her to the friction that'd exist between those of the Sisterhood who were willing to look past the male taint within her and those who could not. Eventually she would be either slain or cast out by the Sisterhood but she would have no peace or joy back in her own time. It left her without a place to call home and so she knew not what she would do after the mission was complete. She supposed she could simply choose to remain in back-in-the-day but it was an alien world where the genders intermingled freely, without any apparent difficulty.

How did she know this?

All she needed to do was watch how Patricia and Janet behaved, how they talked, to see the differences between the culture of her time and what they'd been raised on. Even now looking at Janet, she could see that the woman didn't think she was looking at a foul creature that was inferior to her gender but simply a person she had yet to form an opinion about. It was such an alien approach to her but, at the same time, a part of her liked it if for no other reason than she wished her sisters had looked at her the same way. If only they all looked at her and judged her on her own merits rather than based on the way she was born. However, to do that, they would have to set aside generations of teachings that'd been followed by the Republic since its formation and that was no easy task. It would likely take as long as her homeland had existed to undo and only if proof of man's nobility remained strong throughout that time.

It was a tall order to say the least.

"It would seem he is done," Ravonna said as the young man stepped onto the platform that had a door at the other side. "Let us get to the others and proceed to the temporal teleporter. My older brother Nathaniel will bring him there soon."

No one opposed this suggestion and so the three of them proceeded to leave the observation room and moved down the hallway towards their destination.

She did not mind the delay because, the longer it took for the mission to begin, the longer she had before she would have to make any decisions about what to do afterwards.

A decision she was not looking forward to in the least.

 _ **The Temporal Teleporter, Kang's HQ, Fifteen Minutes Later, Patricia Potts' POV**_

 _Tony is going to be SO jealous when I get back!_ she thought as she fought her inner excitement in an effort to look cool and heroic. _Super advanced armor, travelling to other timeline's and working with three girls that practically scream 'Girl Power'! What could be better!?_

Taking a moment to look at her armor through the eye slits in the helmet, she couldn't help but wait with eager anticipation for the chance to use all the weapons on it. Sure, A.I. Mrs. Rhodes would be handling most of the technical stuff until she could do it all herself but it'd still be cool to watch until then. It was following that line of thought, though, that reminded her of who she might be using the weapons against once they got to when they were going. She still didn't want to believe what she'd been told about the timeline's Tony turning on his friends and imprisoning those who didn't do what he told them to do. It just went against everything she'd come to know about her Tony. Then again, everything she'd been told about the Iron Man of the timeline they'd be going to implied that he was an adult rather than someone her age. Maybe something happened to the Tony she'd be fighting to change. It'd have to be something pretty big in her opinion but she had hope that she'd be able to reason with him because she wasn't looking forward to fighting any Tony alternate or not.

"Roberta, run a check on all armor systems," she asked, deciding she needed a distraction for the time being. "Make sure everything's running perfectly."

"Acknowledged," Roberta said promptly, if a bit stiffly. "I'll be done in five minutes."

Fortunately Roberta didn't notify her on every little thing but, just the same, she had a general idea of what was being checked as weapons popped out of the armor before popping back in. She also watched panels without weapons move before settling back into the positions they'd been in and, while this held her attention for a time, she soon got bored. It was at this time that the door opened to admit two new people and, like magnetism, her eyes were drawn to the hunk that looked only a year or two older than her. Buff in all the right areas and with a face that wasn't all that shabby either, as well as pointy ears that added a certain exotic touch to the guy. She didn't know who he was but she guessed he was the fifth member of the team that Ravonna mentioned to them after they'd arrived in the future. She didn't know what he did but the eye candy alone was reason enough to bring Mister Good Looking along for the mission.

"Glad you could join us, brother," Ravonna said to the man who stood beside the guy who had her attention at the moment. "Has he been properly prepared?"

"He has, sister," replied the man with a confident smile. "He has been familiarized with his powers and I have provided him with a sensor capable of locating our little brother should all other means fail."

"Good. Then it is time for them to go," Ravonna said before turning to face the larger group. "Between the two of us, my older brother Nathaniel and I have searched through the history files for any sign of our little brother. We believe we know when and where he is and will be transporting you as close to his position as we can manage. Alexander's sensor will help get a more precise fix once you arrive."

"Sounds like a plan," Alexander said poking at the device on his right forearm. "Is there gonna be a team leader giving out orders or are we basically gonna do what seems like a good idea at the time?"

"He raises a valid point, brother," Ravonna said looking at her big brother. "Iron Lad's protectors are Avengers and will have experience working together as a team. If each of our allies simply act on their own without any co-operation, the odds of their succeeding is reduced."

"So who would be best suited to lead this group once they arrive in the past?" Ravonna's brother asked, stroking his chin in thought as he looked at all of them.

Despite what most people who knew her might think, she wasn't going to put her name up for consideration for team leader. She knew that she wasn't focused enough and, quite frankly, tended to dissolve into babble when the going got tough. No, it'd be better if one of the others got named leader of the group. If she had to pick a leader she'd probably choose Janet since she was older than everyone else and so she probably had more experience than the rest of them when it came to being a superhero.

"I think it should be Alexander," Janet said after a moment's hesitation.

"WHAT!?" Lyra exclaimed, turning to look at the older woman. "Why would you want that, t-that…MAN to lead us!?"

"Pepper and I will likely know the people Iron Lad might've recruited to protect him and, while it won't be exactly them, they'll likely know us well enough to be able to predict what tactics we'll use. That pretty much removes the two of us from the running for team leader," Janet replied, showing she was decided on the matter. "According to Thena she's only started spending time on the Earth of her timeline and at best only knows of the heroes we'll face from stories Thor probably told her. Plus, no offense intended, but she's a little too hung up on her status from what I can tell. That's a weakness a leader can't have."

"Then what reason have you come up with to prevent ME from becoming team leader?" Lyra snarled, obviously not happy with the slight to her skills and experience.

"You might've led groups of warriors into battle but you haven't fought super humans. From what you've told me you've only had to deal with enemies using spears, swords and other primitive weapons," Janet replied, not backing down in the face of the daughter of the Hulk. "The people we'll be fighting against are going to be armed with cutting edge technology, have superhuman abilities many times greater than anything a normal human could manage and years of experience fighting extraordinary threats. If you're made team leader you'll likely underestimate them and not realize it until it's too late to turn things around."

"He is no better!" Lyra declared, not backing down from her position. "He only received his superhuman abilities recently! He… he is as much an amateur in superhuman battles as I am. In fact, I doubt he's been fighting for more than two years."

"Maybe, but you heard Ravonna. He was a normal human and he was fighting vampires and demons," Janet said, sounding like she was concluding her argument. "Now I don't know the specifics about monsters but I bet not one of them is less than four times as fast, strong and agile as your average human. He's used to fighting against opponents that are physically superior to him with years more experience than him. To me, that makes him the best qualified to lead this team."

Janet made a rather good point.

They were an untested team of individuals who'd never worked together before, so it all came down to who'd make the right calls for the situation that they'd be walking into. From that point of view, the right choice would be to make someone who was used to being the underdog but still managed to pull through to be the leader.

If Alexander accepted the job she had no objections.

As one the group looked towards the young man that'd entered the room minutes ago to see what he would do with this nomination.

"Well… to tell you the truth, I don't know what to say," Alexander said, sounding a little overwhelmed. "I'm not sure if I'm really the right guy for the job but I promise I'll do the best I can until I'm dead or someone better suited to the job comes along."

"So what's the plan?" she asked, finally deciding to say something.

"Nathaniel? How close to each other can you time jump two people without something screwing up?" Alexander asked with a look in his eyes that reminded her of when Tony figured out how to outsmart someone.

 _ **Earth-616, New York City, 890 Fifth Avenue, Ruins of Avengers Mansion, Evening**_

 _ **Iron Lad's POV**_

 _They made it sound so easy in history class,_ he thought as he walked towards the entry point he'd chosen for the mansion. _Find a group of people with powers willing to do the right thing, unite them against a common threat and thus a team of superheroes is born. Not once did they mention getting them all to work together without any arguments._

He should've known it wouldn't be that easy but what other choice did he have?

He might have managed to escape to the past but he knew that his future self, Kang, would be along soon enough. While the time stream was indeed vast, he knew it wouldn't be long before a temporal probe or his older self's time sensors somehow managed to track him down. That was why he'd come to this time period in the hopes of getting the help of people who'd proven themselves capable of defeating Kang before. Unfortunately the history files he'd seen in his class didn't give him a precise date to work with so when he'd utilized the armor his future self had given him, he'd just aimed for the very early twenty-first century, hoping for the best. He'd arrived well enough but he'd found out the hard way that the Avengers had disbanded due to some battle the newspapers of the time weren't all that clear about.

From there he'd tried to contact as many former Avengers as he could, starting with the ones whose civilian identities were well known, to those he only knew by their superhero names. However that didn't pan out well so he went with a long shot in the form of breaking into a Stark Industries storage warehouse. It was there that he found someone who could actually help him, albeit indirectly.

The Vision.

Apparently after the event that resulted in the disbanding of the Avengers, the remains of the synthetic hero had been moved to the building. Whether Stark intended to one day repair his comrade or merely couldn't bring himself to throw the dismembered mechanical remains away he didn't know. In the end, though, the files he'd found had been enough to get him what he wanted bringing him to where he was now. The team was still well away from being strong enough to stand a chance against Kang but, with none of the Avengers being reachable, he had to work with what was at hand.

Entering the mansion, he looked around and, with his armor giving him perfect vision, he could make everything out in exquisite detail and could even zoom in on things that were too far away. Even in its decimated state there was such HISTORY in the building, with damaged pictures and unique decorations on the floor each with a story to tell to those willing to listen. In his time, superheroes only existed in history files, with technology having advanced to the point where crime happened more electronically then live and in person. Every once in a while there was a vid about the heroic era of Earth and, while some enjoyed such things, many considered them evolved to the point where costumes were nonsense.

Not him, though.

"Look at this place…" he whispered as he walked further in. "'Avengers Assemble'…"

"Funny you should say that…" said a digitized voice from behind him.

"Who's there?" he asked threateningly as he whirled around and fired off an ion blast, fearing that Kang had finally found him.

"We were just about to ask you the same question," said a man who pretty much embodied the hero era of Earth with his shield stopping his attack in his tracks.

Captain America.

"What's your name, son?" Captain America asked, sounding very commanding.

"How did you disable the alarm system?" asked the digitized voice he now saw came from the armored Avenger known as Iron Man.

"What are you doing here?" Steve Rogers asked, not waiting for an answer to be given to his first question.

"Where did you get the armor?" Iron Man asked, obviously following the lead of his friend.

Fortunately there was a woman with them that understood how overwhelmed he was feeling and stepped forward to break up the barrage. It only took a moment for him to have his armor run a facial recognition search on her revealing her to be Jessica Jones, aka Jewel. While not as well-known as the Captain or Iron Man, she had still been an Avenger and a hero, so he was still a bit in awe to be meeting her.

"Guys, ease up, okay?" Jessica said before looking at him. "Hi…Iron Kid? Iron…Boy?"

Smirking a bit in amusement, he decided he'd spare her the discomfort of having to guess his name further.

"Iron Lad," he said, providing the name he'd chosen when he'd reconfigured the armor his future self had provided him with.

"Lad? Really? I'm—" she said sounding amused by his choice.

"Jessica Jones. Formerly Jewel. Also Knightress," he finished off, reading what was displayed on his armor's HUD.

"Okay, instead of being scared that you know that, I'm just going to introduce you to Captain America," she said, introducing the man carrying the colorful circular shield.

"It's an honor, sir. Sorry about the ion blast," he added, figuring he should take responsibility for firing on the man.

"And this is Iron Man. Obviously." Jewel said, finishing the introductions.

"Where did that armor come from?" Iron Man asked, obviously letting his scientific curiosity out a bit.

"It's a long story," he said, realizing how it'd probably sound to people from a relatively primitive era. "You probably won't believe it—"

"Try me." Iron man said, sounding like he really wanted answers.

"Why don't you come with us, son, and we'll—" Steve said, reaching to grasp his shoulder only for the shoulder to produce sharp spikes, "—WHOA. Easy now—"

"Sorry, sir. Sometimes the armor responds to my thoughts before I even know what I'm thinking." he explained before mentally willing the spikes to retract.

"It's psycho-kinetic?" Iron Man asked, sounding fascinated.

"Neuro-kinetic. The technology's a little… advanced," he replied, unsure of how much he should reveal about future tech.

"By at least ten years," Iron Man stated, obviously believing that'd be how long it'd take him to manage something similar.

"Actually? More like a thousand. See…" he said before realizing that if he wanted their trust, he'd need to lay all his cards on the table.

Taking off his helmet, he let them look at his face for a moment before finishing "…I'm from the thirtieth century. They call me Kang…"

He could tell that they were having a little trouble swallowing that particular piece of information and he couldn't blame them. With his face and his armor's current configuration, he looked nothing like the foe they'd locked horns with so many times since the team's founding. Nevertheless, he decided to let them control the pace of things.

"…Iron Lad is Kang the Conqueror?" Jessica asked, sounding almost incredulous.

"NO! Well, not yet," he replied with a bit more passion than was needed. "It's hard to explain."

"Try." Captain America ordered sounding more serious than before.

"I'm supposed to become Kang. In the future," he said, ordering his thoughts as best he could.

"Is this a time travel thing? 'Cause I hate time travel things," Jessica stated, sounding like she dreaded what'd come next.

"If it's Kang, it's a time travel thing." Iron Man stated, crossing his arms across his chest plate.

"See, that's why I hate Kang." Jewel said with her dread being more evident. "That and the conquering. And his mask is weird, too."

"Actually it's more of a helmet," Cap clarified even though it wasn't really relevant.

"You don't look much like Kang," Iron Man said, making a valid point.

"Not now, but if I give my armor a neuro-kinetic adjustment…" he said before mentally willing what he was wearing to take on an appearance the three Avengers would recognize.

"Yeah, I liked you better as Iron Lad," Knightress commented looking like she'd almost believed he was just some crazy kid.

Probably preferred it was that to the truth, too, and he couldn't blame her.

"Me too. That's why I left the thirtieth century," he said before turning his garb back into Iron Lad form. "Well… that's not the only reason."

From there he began to explain to them how his encounter with Kang had begun with a typical day of being bullied by his intellectual inferiors. It'd been something that'd been going on all throughout high school and, while he'd more or less gotten used to it, that didn't mean that he liked it. He'd been testing out his newest Simuloid out in the schoolyard when Moran and his pals had come along on their anti-gravs looking to make his day miserable like always. The idiot had grabbed his invention and, when he'd tried to retrieve it, all he'd gotten was a punch to the jaw in return before he fell to the ground. Then the taunts came, the insults, but, fortunately, he had an ace up his sleeve that he'd installed in his creation on the off chance this very scenario happened. With the press of a button he induced plasmatic discharge to energize the stimuloid, causing Morgan pain enough that the humanoid creation fell to the ground. Knowing the pain would only buy him so much time, he'd been quick to pick up his invention and had been on his way to making a break for it when someone had intervened to aid him.

A man garbed in purple, blue and green armor, wielding power he'd never seen before.

A man who introduced himself as Kang the Conqueror while he held the bullies at bay the same amount of ease breathing was for most people.

Seeing that Morgan was having trouble breathing and could very well die if nothing was done, he'd asked the newcomer to stop. Amazingly Kang obeyed and, once free, Morgan fled, his friends following his example like bullies did when confronted with someone stronger than them.

From that point on he'd experienced revelation after revelation in the form of images being beamed directly into his mind by the armor the man had allowed him to put on. How he had, would, discover the plans for an ancient time machine that would transport him back to ancient Egypt to be worshipped as Pharoh. How, on his attempt to return home, he'd be trapped in the fortieth century where two alien races were locked in an enormous battle, a war he would end by using his advanced technology to 'civilize' them, thus earning the name 'Kang the Conqueror' for the first time. The images he'd been shown had horrified him but the fact his future self was not been affected frightened him more.

It was at that point, though, that images of the Avengers began to appear in his mind. While Kang had tried to downplay the defeats he'd been dealt as the results of mere sport, there was no denying that, for all the man's brilliance, he'd been beaten. From there Kang had explained how things would've transpired if he hadn't intervened moments ago and how they could proceed if he didn't take his first step on the road to becoming him. Apparently the entire encounter had been staged with the intent of preventing an embarrassing moment and cementing the path Kang wanted him to take.

However his future self didn't anticipate what had happened next: he rejected the situation, blasted his future self with the armor and then, in response to his thoughts, the armor had taken him back through time to when the Avengers who'd defeated him before existed. If they'd managed to defeat him once to save their world, then surely they'd do it again to prevent their foe from ever existing in the first place.

Right?

"However, when I arrived, I discovered the Avengers had disbanded," he explained as he examined their faces to measure their responses. "I tried to contact as many former Avengers as I could but, when that failed, I used Kang's armor to gain access to Stark Industries, where I finally found someone who could help me. The Vision."

Projecting a hologram of their former comrade to add weight to his claim, he could tell he now had their attention.

"The Vision!?" Iron Man exclaimed, obviously not having discovered his intrusion into the building where the Avenger's remains were stored.

"But the Vision was destroyed. How did you-?" Captain America asked with some surprise.

"I downloaded the Vision's operating system and data files into my armor." he replied as soon as he'd heard enough of the question.

"So, he's… alive?" Jessica asked, sounding uncertain of that last word.

However, before anyone could say more, the sound of a large impact cut through the air and vibrations added further proof to the idea that something had hit the ground outside.

"What was that?" Jewel asked in surprise.

"An earthquake?" Iron Man hazarded as more of a question than a reply.

"On the upper east side?" Knightress asked with a bit of incredulity at the idea.

"It's him," he said, knowing that something unnatural occurring could only mean one thing. "It's Kang…"

As one the group ran or flew outside to see what was going on but, when they reached the source of the impact, they saw something they had not anticipated. Lying on the ground was a giant blonde teenage girl wearing clothes that were torn and only just managed to preserve her modesty. Fortunately, though, he didn't have to wait long for the young woman's identity.

"CASSIE!" Captain America bellowed with concern.

It was at this point that he noticed that the members of his team that he'd assembled had returned plus one that he was sure he'd seen before.

"What happened?" Steve asked, immediately taking charge like the leader he was.

"She got upset. She started growing. And then she kind of… passed out," the unknown young woman replied, sounding a little overwhelmed at the presence of the adults.

Understandable when you took who she was talking to at the moment into account.

"What upset her?" Iron Man asked, coming in for a landing.

"Um… we did?" Hulkling replied, feeling much the same as the unknown. "She wanted us to let her into the mansion so she could get her dad's Ant-Man costume—"

"Cassie? It's Cap," Rogers said, breaking off the rest of what Teddy had to say. "Can you hear me?"

It was at this point that Cassie did start to come around, though she still sounded a bit out of it.

"Cap…? Why are you so…small?" Cassie asked, holding her head that she may have hit when she'd passed out.

"I'm not, Cass. You grew." Rogers pointed out, trying to take things slow.

"I did? How?" Cassie asked, her mind still not completely clear.

"I don't know. Think you can shrink back down for me?" Captain America asked gently, taking into consideration the dramatic change the teenager had been through.

"God, I HOPE so," Cassie said before, through the miracle of what he surmised were Pym particles, she began to shrink down to normal size.

"Attagirl," Steve said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Given her current state and the condition of her clothes, it was no wonder that both senior Avengers wanted to move things inside. Patriot looked like he wanted to escape before the two famous heroes could pin him down but Iron Man was already on top of that. With escape no longer an option, he felt the best thing to do would be to explain everything in the hope that the two skilled warriors would understand and help him.

He preferred not to think of the alternative since it didn't bode well for his future.

 _ **Inside the Ruins of Avengers Mansion, Captain America's POV**_

Bucky.

That's all he could think of when he looked at the collection of four costumed heroes plus one unknown who might be entertaining similar career choices.

While he was sure that these teenagers had their hearts in the right places, he knew from experience that that wasn't nearly enough for what they intended to do. The life of a costumed hero was overflowing with danger and even those people who had years of training to keep themselves alive didn't always survive their brushes with death. With how the media tended to glorify superheroes and the lifestyles they led, he had little doubt that the five people in front of him hadn't even considered that they could die in the blink of an eye. One stray bullet, one car explosion, would be all it'd take to end their lives or leave them horribly scarred.

After seeing what the costumed life had done to Bucky, he refused to let another teenager run the same risk.

"So, except for Cassie, is this all of you?" he asked, wanting to make sure that there weren't any more reckless young people to round up. "Or are there any more Young Avengers running around?"

"No, sir," Iron Lad replied before gesturing to his 'team'. "Patriot, Asgardian and Hulkling."

"Ahem!" the unknown girl coughed, obviously not liking being left out.

"And this is the young lady who saved our lives at the cathedral," Iron Lad said as the young woman stepped forward.

With that bit of information he recognized her as Katherine Bishop from the news broadcasts he'd watched before he and Iron Man had departed for the mansion

"But you're NOT a Young Avenger?" he asked to clarify her status.

"No, sir. The boys have a strict, sexist, no-supergirls-allowed policy." Katherine replied somewhat respectfully.

"That's not true," Iron Lad said objecting to the statement.

"Then why is Cassie not a Young Avenger?" Kate asked confrontationally.

"Because she wasn't part of the Avengers Failsafe Program," Iron Lad replied without hesitation.

"There's an Avengers Failsafe Program?" Jessica asked, obviously looking for elaboration.

"Not that I'm aware of," he replied, being unable to recall anything of the sort being mentioned during the team meetings. "Where did it come from? Kang?"

"No, sir," Iron Lad replied before he projected an image of Vision once more. "The Vision. Once I downloaded the data from the Vision's hard drive, I went looking for a way to contact and hopefully reassemble the Avengers. But instead I found the Avengers' Failsafe Program."

With those words the hologram being projected changed from Vision to a map of the USA surrounded by files, images and names.

"A program designed so that, if anything should happen to the Avengers, such as their destruction or if they disbanded, then the Vision would be able to pinpoint the exact locations of the next wave of… well, Young Avengers." Iron Lad said finishing his explanation of the Program.

Examining the projected information it became clear to him that his fallen friend had expended considerable time and effort collecting as well as organizing the needed information. He recognized a few of the names as well as the faces shown in the pictures connected to them.

"How could we not have known about this?" he asked, not expecting to receive an answer.

He didn't like it and he was sure that if Vision had told the rest of the team, he would've insisted on an age requirement of no less than twenty-one be instituted. Children had no place on the same battlefield he walked upon.

"And what constitutes the next wave?" Jessica asked, focusing on the map with dots blinking in every other state.

"We're not sure, but it seems as though each of us has some significant tie to the Avengers or to Avengers history." Iron Lad replied as the projected image changed to a map of New York City.

"What kind of tie?" he asked as his mind raced to grasp the situation.

"We were hoping you could tell us." Hulkling said, sounding like he didn't have the answer.

"Maybe if we told you our real names—" Asgardian suggested before he was cut off by Patriot.

"NO! They're called secret identities for a reason!" Patriot said, clearly against revealing that information.

"Patriot, he's Captain America," Asgardian pointed out, clearly implying that if he couldn't be trusted who could.

"Yeah, but she's a civilian," Patriot said, pointing to the young woman in the purple dress.

"A civilian who saved your life," Miss Bishop pointed out, immediately provoking hostility from Patriot.

"When are you gonna let that go?" Patriot asked with irritation in his voice.

"When you finally admit it?" Katherine replied, not backing down even a little.

"If I do, will you leave?" Patriot asked, sounding like he just might admit it to be rid of the girl.

"Probably not, no." she replied, likely just saying so out of spite.

"Actually, Miss Bishop—" he said, intruding before the arguing to gain momentum.

"You know my name?" she asked with some surprise.

"It was all over the news. How you single-handedly disarmed the lead gunman—" he replied before she cut him off.

"It was?" both Kate and Patriot asked at the same time.

"And I'm grateful to you, but if you wouldn't mind giving us a moment alone?" he asked politely, hoping that she wouldn't fight him on this.

"I'll be outside if you need me. Oh, and Patriot?" she asked with a bit of an edge to her words. "You're gonna be hearing this a lot, but let me be the first to say it: Why can't you be more like him?"

The young woman was an obvious handful and he felt sympathy for the parents who must have a hard time raising her.

Gesturing to the chairs arrayed around the intact table, he waited for the Young Avengers to sit before they took the discussion any further. Assuming they carried through on their declaration to divulge their civilian identities, he'd have Tony look up their phone numbers so he could bring their parents in on the situation. With their help he'd be able to shut down this group before they got themselves or others seriously hurt and possibly killed if things took a turn for the worse. Iron Lad, Asgardian and Hulkling took him up on his wish but Patriot just leaned up against a nearby wall, clearly determined to be adversarial about the situation.

He'd be a problem.

"I'm Billy Kaplan. My parents are Jeff and Rebecca. He's a cardiologist. She's a psychologist. Two little brothers, both obnoxious…" Billy said before realizing he was losing his audience. "Does this mean anything to you guys?"

"No, I'm sorry," he replied honestly, never having heard those names before.

"What about your powers, Billy?" Jessica asked from her seat beside him. "You generate electricity? Lightning?"

"Um…yeah," Billy replied, generating a localized showing of electricity around his right hand.

"What about you, Hulkling?" he asked moving things along.

"My real name's Teddy Altman. I've got super-strength…" Teddy said before being interrupted.

"Any… anger issues?" he asked, wanting to know if they had a young Hulk on their hands.

"I don't Hulk-out, if that's what you mean," Teddy said, catching on to what he was inquiring about. "At least not any more than most sixteen year olds."

"How'd you get your powers?" Jessica asked, taking the attention off him. "Radiation or-?"

"I don't know. None of us do," Teddy replied with an expression that implied honesty. "Except Patriot."

"Patriot?" he asked in order to get the teenager's attention. "Why don't you sit down and tell us about yourself, son?"

While the lad did push off the wall, he made no move to head for the nearby vacant chair.

"First of all, I'm not your son, so you can breathe a big sigh of relief," Patriot snarled, clearly having some animosity towards him. "And second of all, why should we tell you our secrets when the only reason you came here was to shut us down? That is what you're planning to do. ISN'T it?"

He wasn't sure if Patriot was perceptive or simply had expected the worst from the moment he, Jessica and Iron Man had arrived but it would make things harder regardless.

"Patriot, if I'm in any way responsible for you—" he said, trying to calm the lad down but was cut off.

"Don't worry. You're NOT." Patriot fired back aggressively.

"Then why are you wearing Bucky's… why are you wearing that uniform?" he asked, wondering why someone that hadn't possibly gained powers from him would choose to emulate his partner.

"Out of respect for the first Captain America!" Patriot replied, pointing accusingly at him. "The real Captain America…"

It was then that the pieces fell into place.

"Isaiah Bradley," he said, remembering the only person to pass the early trials of the super soldier serum.

"My grandfather. The BLACK Captain America," Patriot said, emphasizing the point that was likely the source of his anger.

"How is it possible that you gained your grandfather's super soldier abilities?" he asked, unable to come up with an answer himself.

"Because BEFORE the army saw fit to cook up their WHITE Captain America, they tested the super-soldier serum on a platoon of BLACK soldiers," Patriot replied, the look of anger never leaving his face. "All of whom died—"

"Except your grandfather. I know the story," he said, remembering when he'd discovered these facts himself. "He had a daughter…Sarah Gail…"

"My mother," Patriot said clarifying the connection.

"…who was born before Isaiah was given the serum. So how did you—?" he asked, not seeing a direct connection that would make sense.

"I got into a fight a while back. Lost a lot of blood…" Patriot replied, sounding like he was calming down a bit.

"And Isaiah's blood type…" he said before allowing the boy to finish it.

"…matched mine." Patriot declared, confirming how he got his powers.

Listening to such a tale, he could understand how the young man might feel compelled to follow his grandfather's example, especially given the cost that came afterwards to Isaiah, but that didn't change what needed to be done. Being a costumed hero was no game and could have very PERMANENT consequences for the inexperienced.

"I appreciate what you kids are trying to do, but—" he said, placing a comforting hand on Patriot's shoulder.

"You want to shut us down," Patriot said before looking him defiantly in the eyes. "Tell me, Captain how exactly do you intend to do that?"

He was about to reply when another impact shook the mansion and, for a moment, he thought that Cassie might've gotten upset again and fallen to the ground. This proved to be wrong when Tony came down the stairs with the blonde girl trailing behind him in one of Scott's costumes, completely normal sized. Instantly his mind changed to what Iron Lad had told them and realized that Kang could very well have arrived to take back his past self.

"You kids stay put," he said as he slid his shield onto his right arm. "Iron Man and I will—"

That was as far as he got before the wall of the mansion was violently ripped open, sending many to the ground. Standing at a little over twenty feet tall was none other than the Growing Man and he did not look to be in a good mood.

"WHERE IS HE?!" the Growing Man asked with a cross look on his face. "WHERE IS THE MASTER?!"

Given that the being in front of them got bigger every time someone struck him, it was going to be a real problem subduing him without any of the Young Avengers getting involved.

Still, he wouldn't be who he was if he'd given in when the odds were against him, so without looking to see if anyone was following his lead, he charged.

 _ **The Temporal Teleporter, Kang's HQ, Xander's POV**_

"We all clear on what our roles are?" he asked, standing on the teleporter pad, waiting for the temporal probes to finish confirming Iron Lad's position.

He got nods of agreement from the other four members of the team, albeit with some reluctance on Lyra's part, but he'd been told by Nathaniel that she'd been raised in a feminist culture that saw men as a cancer to be expunged from the planet, so he understood. While he'd like to know more, he was willing to wait until later, assuming they had the opportunity before they were all sent back to their respective worlds. To him there wasn't any question as to whether or not they'd manage to get Iron Lad but simply a case of how long it'd take, as well as what they'd have to do to acquire the guy. He hoped they wouldn't have to fight since he had no desire to hurt any heroes by getting into one of those hero vs hero fights, but he would if it became necessary.

Hearing a beep, he turned back to Nathaniel who was manning the control console for the teleporter.

"The temporal probes have confirmed his location. Very early twenty-first century, North America, New York City, 890 Fifth Avenue, the remains of Avengers mansion," Nate said, looking up from the controls. "I'll be placing you outside of the mansion less than ten minutes after the confirmation signal was sent. It's the closest I can manage, even with current fortieth century technology."

"It'll be good enough. As soon as we have your brother in custody we'll send the signal for pick up." he said as he mentally fortified himself for what could happen.

"I'll be waiting," Nathaniel said as he continued to operate the console. "Temporal teleportation in five…four…three…two…one…NOW."

There was a moment of disorientation, a feeling of being yanked by an unseen force in a very specific direction, but as quickly as it arose it vanished, leaving him in a very different location. Taking in his surroundings, he instantly recognized Avenger's mansion from the news broadcasts he'd watched, even if this version looked like a giant had fallen on the front half of it. However movement caused him to focus on the ground floor, letting him see three people running in their direction, two of which his current employer had warned him would be working for Iron Lad.

Captain America and Iron Man.

They were two of the most recognizable members of the Avengers, as well as two of the most skillful, so underestimating them would be a mistake. He didn't recognize the third person, a woman dressed in civilian clothes with long brown hair, but he had a nagging feeling in the back of his head saying that he should. Mentally shaking that train of thought into oblivion, he focused on the more concrete obstacles rather than the one intangible one.

"Who are you people?" Captain America asked with his shield arm in a position that could go from offensive to defensive in an instant.

"Who we are is isn't important, Captain. Why we're here is," he said, deciding he needed to start strong and dictate the pace or get stuck in a reactive position. "There is an armored teenager calling himself Iron Lad here. Turn him over to my team and I and we'll leave as peacefully as we came."

"And if we don't?" Iron Man asked, hovering a couple of feet of the ground.

"Then we will find him and take him ourselves." He looked at the armored Avenger, "Do not even think of getting in our way. No matter how good you are, you're outnumbered and overpowered. A battle would only do pointless damage to anyone caught up in it."

"Is that a threat?" Captain America asked as his shield inched closer to an offensive position.

"No. It's a certainty," he replied since he was pretty sure a fight breaking out between the two teams would only leave both sides with numerous injuries that they didn't need to have.

"Not on my watch it isn't!" Iron Man declared as he brought his hands up for a predictable repulsor blast.

"Take'em, team!" he ordered before joining Thena in the air as they went after Iron Man.

This was how he'd explained it back in the fortieth century.

With only two confirmed combatants he'd drawn up what he hoped was a plan that'd keep damage to a minimum and get things done the quickest. Before they'd left he'd had Wasp shrink down as small as she could go and take up a position directly behind him. This would trick the two Avengers into thinking that they faced only four enemies when in reality there was a fifth that was not in their direct line of sight. If things devolved into a fight, which they had, he'd given each member of his team a target and a role they were to play.

Wasp would immediately split off from the group and begin searching for Iron Lad using a scanner Ravonna had given them to track the kid down. Once she found him she was to fire off her most powerful sting blast into the air to act as a signal flare to alert the rest of them, at which point they'd deliver one massive strike against the enemy combatants before converging on her location with all the speed they could manage.

Lyra's sparring partner would be Captain America since he figured anyone with that skin tone had to be related to the Hulk and, since the warrior woman carried herself a lot like Buffy did when she was serious, she'd be able to handle Cap. As for him and Thena, they would handle Iron Man since the guy's armor provided him with way too many bells and whistles that could be used against them if the billionaire was given time. Between her lightning hopefully scrambling a few circuits and his strength, he was hopeful that it'd be enough to completely fill up Stark's plate.

Pepper's job was the least confrontational of the bunch since he didn't want to put her in the position of having to fight an alternate reality/timeline/whatever version of her best friend. Her job was to clear out anyone who was within a two block radius of the mansion property so that no innocent bystanders would get caught up in the fight. She'd do that either by pretending to be a superhero or by firing a few near misses at some of the more difficult civilians in the hopes of intimidating them into leaving. Once that was done he'd told her she'd hang back from the two fights and render fire support to whoever needed it should either Captain America or Iron Man start getting the upper hand. He didn't want her to actually hit anyone, rather to simply fire a shot that'd make either man jump or fly back a couple of feet giving their teammates some breathing room

One thing he'd stressed to all of his team was that they weren't here to kill or permanently harm either Avenger. The only reason they would be fighting them at all was to act as distractions so Wasp could find their real target without anyone interfering and getting in the way. Once they found Iron Lad, they'd go all out on their opponents in one big push, knocking both of them on their asses, freeing up the team to go to Wasp and finish the mission.

That was the plan at least, but the remnant of the soldier personae inside of him reminded him that no plan ever survived first contact with the enemy intact. He'd have to be ready to adapt and rework things if events went pear shaped on him but fortunately life in Sunnydale did a good job promoting resourcefulness.

Slamming into Iron Man's chest with a shoulder tackle, he took the guy high into the air before letting go and performing an uppercut to daze him. This set the Avenger up for a blast of lightning from Thena that looked like it was doing serious damage to the armor systems while also sending him flying. Flying as quickly as he dared, he soon caught up to the man who had since recovered enough to begin firing blasts of energy from his palms. Fortunately for him the obstacle course that Nathaniel had put him through had included things like this, so he was able evade the fire being directed at him. Veering off at the last possible moment he succeeded in drawing Stark's fire, allowing Thena to throw her newly acquired Mjolnir at their sparring partner. He had to whistle a bit at the force the weapon struck with since it looked like those movie scenes where an ordinary person got struck with a car. The only good thing was that Iron Man's armor was strong enough to keep any bones from breaking or organs from rupturing, but not bruises from forming he imagined.

Flying in pursuit, he was almost in position to deliver another blow when a high pitched whine tore into his ears, causing him pain and shaking his ability to fly significantly. Putting a full half of his willpower into keeping himself airborne, he put the rest of it towards figuring out what the hell was going on. Looking up and seeing Iron Man standing unaffected by the noise, he could only conclude that Stark was the man behind it using some kind of tech. Fortunately, though, Thena's Asgardian constitution was higher than his because it allowed her send lightning at the man from every angle, forcing the Avenger to change tactics. The sound vanished, only to be replaced by some kind of energy barrier that blocked the elemental assault, though he could see signs of strain as the force field buckled a bit.

 _Gotta keep him from using that sonic attack again._ He quickly added his fists to the assault. _Thena might've been able to break it off this time but I got a feeling he won't fall for the same trick twice._

He just hoped that Janet was having an easier time finding Iron Lad so that they could get this whole thing over with because, even though he knew they were being manipulated and fighting was needed, he didn't like going up against two Avengers.

It made him feel like he'd joined the Masters of Evil or something.

 _ **Inside the Ruined Mansion, Janet Van Dyne's POV**_

 _It's amazing how similar this mansion is to the one back in my world,_ she thought as she navigated the interior of the building, trying to find Iron Lad. _It's been home to the Avengers a lot longer than the Ultimates have been living in Tony's mansion back home, but it's basically the same._

While she wanted to get back to her own world as soon as possible, it was still interesting taking note of the similarities and differences between the two realities. There were pictures, some on the walls while others were on the floor, showing people who she presumed were either team members or people that the Avengers had met on their adventures. There were even damaged decorations that she made a mental note to look for something similar when she got back home because they'd seriously improve things.

When the scanner she was holding started pinging extra loud, she knew she was almost on top of Iron Lad, so she put her home decorating plans aside for the time being. Coming around the corner, she primed herself for unleashing a barrage of stings just in case her target had managed to get more help somehow. However no one could be more surprised than her when she turned that corner only to find it completely empty of anything other than more broken items. Looking in every direction she could, she saw nothing that came even close to a teenager in a high tech Iron Man suit of armor but then a moment of clarity clued her in. If she couldn't see him but the scanner said she was right on top of him then that could only mean that either he was directly above or directly below her. Given that trying to escape by air was an obviously bad idea, that could only mean he was below her in the basement or perhaps in some sort of tunnels.

On a hunch she vanished into the vents of the mansion, hoping that the construction of this HQ was at least mostly the same as the one back in her world.

One of the things that only Tony knew was that, once the mansion had been chosen as their new base of operations, she'd taken it upon herself to memorize the layout of the vents, pipes and anything else that could serve as an alternate path that someone her shrunken size could use. With that knowledge the only way someone would be able to keep her contained would be to completely seal a room off from the rest of the room. That would, of course, kill her probably since it'd give her a limited supply of oxygen, but most people who would want to contain her wouldn't care if she died.

It took about five minutes for her to get to the lower levels of the mansion since apparently here were a few design differences between the two buildings, but nothing she couldn't handle. She'd popped out a ways back from where the scanner said Iron Lad was but, at forty miles per hour, it wasn't long before she caught up to him.

"So, where are we going?" asked the Thor fanboy as the group walked away from her.

"This way," Cap Kid and Weapon girl replied at the same time but pointing in two different directions.

She could already see that the two got along about as well as she and Hank usually had on their less than good days.

She wondered if they'd begun dating yet.

"Um… maybe I should check the Vision software for a map of the sub-basements?" Iron Lad suggested, sounding less than enthusiastic about witnessing an argument.

Truth be told, she didn't want to listen to it either but, for the moment, her options were limited.

She was too far underground to fire off a flare like Alexander had planned and, while she could probably knock most of them out, she'd need help getting past Iron Lad's armor, therefore she'd wait until they got topside before attacking and hope that the futuristic armor didn't pick her up before then.

"So, if you don't become Kang… everything changes?" Weapon Girl asked, sounding uncertain.

"I supposed it would have to. Right?" Iron Lad asked in return, sounding curious about where the line of thought was going.

"So, the mansion? It's all just…gone?" Weapon Girl asked, not sounding any more certain than before.

"I guess so." Iron Lad replied, sounding like he was beginning to get a clue.

"Then I'm sorry, but… maybe you should go back." Weapon Girl declared, sounding like she wasn't happy about the conclusion she'd come to.

 _Kang? Who's Kang?_ she thought as she kept to the shadows while not losing sight of the light. _Is that the name of Ravonna's little brother?_

Now that she thought about it, neither Nathaniel or Ravonna had ever called their little brother by a normal human name. They'd always gone by his alias Iron Lad but that struck her as odd that they'd use the name the teenager had chosen for himself rather than his birth name. After all, if they were trying to get him to come home and return to the fold, wouldn't it be better to call him by his real name?

"KATE!" the blonde girl wearing something similar to Hank's Giant Man suit exclaimed in disbelief and objection.

"He can't!" Kid Thor objected passionately.

"I'm just saying…" Kate said, sounding like she didn't like it more than the rest of them did, but still thought it was the best choice.

"Kate, if you found out you were going to become… Adolf Hitler, wouldn't you do everything in your power to make sure it never happens?" Iron Lad asked, sounding like he was trying to be reasonable.

 _Adolf Hitler? That's what the kid thinks going into the family business is going to turn him into?_ she thought as doubt began to take form in her mind. _It didn't look like that back at Ravonna's headquarters. Sure, it was a little militaristic but it sure didn't remind me of Nazi Germany._

"Of course but take a moment to think about it," Kate said, trying to be just as reasonable. "Kang played a critical role in the history of the Avengers, if not the entire planet. What sort of world would be created if he'd never existed?"

"Maybe… maybe Kate's right," Little Hulk said, sounding like he was having doubts. "None of us are time travel experts. For all we know the new timeline could be ten times worse."

"He's not going back." Bucky Junior said flat out.

"But…" Kid Thor said before being cut off.

"We're supposed to be a team, remember?" Bucky Junior asked rhetorically without any hesitation. "And the only way we'll get through this is if we stick together."

 _This… this doesn't sound like a group that's been told conveniently crafted lies,_ she thought as she followed them further down the tunnels. _Then again time travel's not my specialty either, even after Hank tore apart 'Back to the Future' one through three with all the mistakes he saw in it._

It just wasn't something the Ultimates had any experience at and all she had to work with is what she knew from books and movies. Both sources pretty much said that time travel was too dangerous for mortal hands to deal with because trying to change the past could alter the present as well as the future in ways no one could predict. It didn't matter if you were the smartest person on the planet or a kid on his first day of school; no one could take every variable into account and predict what'd happen.

In other words it was better off left alone.

So, as distasteful as the mission was becoming, she'd still accomplish it but now she'd have one more reason to give it her all.

It only took another minute or so for them to reach their destination, which turned out to be a manhole cover that'd likely lead to street level. Carefully hiding herself, she waited and watched as the group climbed up the ladder into open air and then followed when the last one vanished from her line of sight. The instant she saw stars she returned to her normal human size and fired a fully charged bio-electric blast into the sky three times in order to make sure the others saw them.

"Who the hell—" Iron Lad asked before she kicked him upside the head just like Steve had taught her to knocking the teenager to the ground.

"Sorry, but you're going home whether you like it or not," she said with more certainty than she actually felt at the moment.

Now if only the others could get here in time to back her up before the junior leaguers decided to gang up on her then everything would be great.


	3. The End of a Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the sole property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this and do not intend to change this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my work. Therefore I would appreciate it if no legal action were taken against me because I can assure you that even the sum total of my life savings wouldn't cover your legal fees.

 _ **Thena's POV**_

"This is GLORIOUS!" she exclaimed with excitement as she threw the Mjolnir she'd acquired at the mortal known as Iron Man.

The man evaded it but he did not consider the fact that she could now will it to return to her and so, the moment he took the time to fire a blast of energy at her, he was struck from behind by her hammer before it returned to her waiting hand.

Ever since she was a child she had been told stories of her father's adventures with the mortal band of heroes known as the Avengers, how he'd smited evil with his mighty hammer Mjolnir, and she'd desired nothing more than to follow in her Lord father's footsteps. Even as she got older she wanted nothing more than to make her father proud and so, when he'd asked her to travel to Midgard to restore the connection Kevin Masterson once had, she hadn't hesitated to accept the task. What had happened as a result was an adventure that had introduced her to mortals who could be her friends just as the original Avengers had been to her father.

When Ravonna had come to her, she had been at first wary but, when she heard of the woman's plight, her honor as a warrior was stirred. The offer to give her a Mjolnir of her own, one that had fallen from the hands of a Thor of another world, had only quieted what doubts had still remained. While her father had told her that he would pass his mighty hammer down to her, just as Odin had passed it onto him, when the time was right, she had always wanted that day to come as quickly as possible. It was expected of her, after all, she was the daughter of Thor, that she would live up to his example and perhaps one day surpass him. Having the chance to do that NOW rather than later was an opportunity too good to pass up. She would accomplish this mission as her father would have and, when she returned to her reality, she would take her place among the next generation of Avengers with the power of a true thunderer at her disposal.

"Alright, I've had just about enough of you two!" Iron Man yelled before he began to fire multiple short bursts from his palms rather than energy streams.

This forced her to go on the defensive, surprisingly enough, because while they weren't as powerful, the short bursts were coming at her with both increased speed as well as precision. To one of her royal heritage they didn't do more than sting but they were strong enough that it was difficult to keep her head clear. She was just about to begin whirling her hammer to deflect the shots just as she'd seen her father do once when she was younger when three flashes of light caught her attention. Looking in their direction, she could see they came from the ground and instantly she knew that they were bio-electric blasts like the ones the Wasp employed.

Iron Lad had been found.

"Thena! Time for the second part of the plan!" Alexander said, having come to the same conclusion. "Time to put his lights out!"

"Aye!" she declared before beginning to whirl her hammer in a circle.

Her objective wasn't to deflect the shots being directed at her by Iron Man, but rather to have Mjolnir absorb them. With her opponent's attacks rendered useless she flew, she waited for the opportunity to strike and Alexander did not fail to provide her with one as he charged Iron Man's position. She could see pain on her team leader's face but, like a true warrior, he ignored the complaints of his body and continued onwards, forcing their foe to use a stronger attack. The armored warrior began to bring both palms to bear on the closing young man and that was when she struck, sending the energy her hammer had absorbed back to its source. This succeeded in knocking Iron Man through the air but this wouldn't last as the man had proven resilient, just like his armor, but his recovery would not be permitted. Alexander had not ceased his charge but rather had simply altered course so that he could slam both fists into the armored Avenger's chest, causing the hero to plummet to the ground and hit hard.

"C'mon! Wasp needs us." Alexander said as he flew to her side. "Time to end this."

With a nod the two of them flew to the origin point of the blasts that had attracted their attention and found a rather odd sight. Wasp was there as well as the one they sought but between the two there were a collection of youths in strange garb with only one clad like an Asgardian. Were they more heroes that Iron Lad had duped to his side? If that were indeed the case then they would need to be swept aside if she and her team were to acquire their target. With two quick whirls of her hammer she threw it towards the middle of the gathering, having it strike the ground with enough force to cause an upheaval strong enough to knock all off their feet. Seeing that Alexander was closer to Iron Lad than her, she moved to deal with the remaining obstacles, calling her hammer back to her as she approached.

The first to regain their footing was the green one that reminded her of the Hulk but the boy was nowhere near as intimidating either in size or ferocity.

"I don't know why you attacked us but I'm not going down that easy!" the young Hulk declared as he charged forth, ready to throw a punch.

Novice.

It was clear to her that the youth had not had a day of training in the way of the warrior in his entire life and so, out of mercy, she parried his punch with her hammer before delivering a measured punch to the young man's jaw. The blow sent the young one into the air but she did not wait to see where he landed. Instead she moved onto the next to recover, which turned out to be mortal that clad himself as an Asgardian but when, he raised his arms to attack she felt a familiar sensation in the air.

Sorcery.

Charging forward she spun her hammer, throwing it, but her target wasn't the young sorcerer but rather to the right of his head. As she'd anticipated the boy moved to the side a good two steps to evade the weapon and this bought her the time she needed to close the distance. Picking the sorcerer up by the neck she threw him as hard as she dared to the ground, holding back enough of her true strength to prevent serious injury. It was fortunate that she was able to gain some experience fighting humans that were not as durable as an Asgardian. If she hadn't then the young man impacting the ground might have suffered some broken bones rather than some noticeable bruising.

Turning to see who else needed to be taken care of, she found that Alexander had already dealt with them, leaving only Iron Lad still standing.

However this would not last long because, one by one, her teammates took up a position around him until their target was completely surrounded.

"Surrender, Iron Lad," Alexander ordered without lowering his guard. "Your protectors are down for the count and even with that armor you've got can't take all of us on at the same time. It's time for you to go back where you belong and stop playing hero."

"I don't know what Kang has told you but it is a lie," Iron Lad said, sounding like he would fight them to the bitter end. "Take me back there and you will only ensure the deaths of billions!"

"An admirable lie, overman," Lyra said, not sounding swayed in the least, "but it is a hollow one. By allowing you to remain here you risk wiping out much more. You risk altering the timeline by your very presence. It could bring about the end of everything! Did you even consider that when you fled back to this time?"

"You don't know that!" Iron Lad roared back in defiance.

"You don't either and we refuse to take the chance," Wasp said, her hands pointed at Iron Lad. "Fair warning: when I'm normal sized my stings are powerful enough to kill a human being like a bolt of lightning. I'm betting it'll be enough to hurt even you."

"Last chance, Iron Lad. Stand down or be slammed down!" Alexander ordered, making it clear violence would ensure if the armored teenager didn't surrender.

"Funny! We were about to say the same thing to you guys!" came a voice to her right.

Turning to look, she saw four people that, if her memory served her correctly, could complicate matters significantly.

Iron Fist.

Luke Cage.

Hercules.

She-Hulk.

Three beings of strength to rival her own and one man who, according to her father, was most skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Things would become very bad if a decision was not made quickly.

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _Well this isn't going according to plan._ he thought snarkily as he took in the new arrivals. _Three powerhouses and one martial arts master. Gotta move!_

"Grab Iron Lad NOW!" he ordered before charging Iron Lad's position.

If they could just get their hands on the guy before the newcomers could act then he could signal Nathaniel to pull them out. There was no way that they'd be able to beat all four of them before Cap and Iron Man recovered to join the fight. It'd be even worse if the junior heroes he'd helped Thena and Wasp put down got back into the fight because then his group would be outnumbered two to one. Against those kinds of odds either they'd lose or they'd have to use more force than he'd like against heroes whose only mistake was listening to Iron Lad.

He was about three quarters of the way to the target before he received a rather hard right hook to the face that had him changing directions rather violently. He landed on the ground hard and it dazed him for a moment but fortunately his upgraded body was just as resilient as his old one, so he recovered quickly. Looking up he saw that he'd been hit by none other than Luke Cage, aka Power Man, and that was not good in so many ways. While he didn't have any official stats to work with, what he did know made him think that, in terms of strength and durability, the two of them would come up almost even. The one advantage that Cage had over him was experience in using his superhuman abilities to their fullest. He'd only had a short time to get a basic handle on his powers whereas Power Man had easily years of experience and that'd make all the difference.

 _Can't give up!_ he thought as he got back to his feet. _Iron Lad HAS TO be sent back to his time or it'll screw up the time stream._

That meant that not only was it his life on the line but the lives of the Scooby gang back in Sunnydale and he'd damn himself to the lowest circle of hell before he'd let anything happen to them.

Charging Luke Cage, he focused as hard as he could to bring the remnants of the soldier possession to the surface or, more specifically, the hand-to-hand combat skills. He doubted that he'd be able to cleanly beat him but if he could just hold on long enough for his team to deal with their own sparring partners he'd get some back up and then things would change.

The second he got within range he immediately began to deal out punches and kicks meant to probe Power Man's defenses along with his counters. He had a few near misses along with one or two blows that actually managed to solidly connect, hurting him like Tony's hits during his step-father's less than sober or stable moments. One big difference between those moments and this one though was that the punches delivered occasionally sent him flying a dozen feet. Still, the hits he was taking from Cage weren't a complete waste. With every exchange he was getting a better idea of what he was up against and this allowed him to adjust his own moves to put up a better fight than he had beforehand.

"You take a punch pretty good, kid!" Cage said as he threw a punch aimed at the head. "But you gotta know how this is gonna end, right?"

"Maybe. Then again, maybe not!" he said as he leaned out of the path of the blow just enough so that it'd miss. "I've always liked come from behind victories and I think I'll give it a try of my own!"

"Red Sox fan, huh?" Power Man asked rhetorically before changing his punch to a successful headlock. "Good luck!"

The man's grip was solid and his muscles felt like they were made of the strongest metal on the planet but that wasn't enough to make him give up. Instead he began to rain blows on Cage, alternating between the lower back with his left and his stomach with his right in the hopes of loosening things enough to slip out of the hold. In response Power Man just tightened the hold, probably with the desire to emphasize how much of a bad idea continued resistance was for him. All it did was cause him to change his tactics by wrapping his arms around the African-American's waist, lifting him off the ground and then slamming him head first into the ground with a suplex. When that didn't work he decided to add a new twist by rolling backwards without loosening his hold and, when his feet were beneath him again, he pushed off the ground, taking both of them into the air. It was when the two of them reached the apex of the jump, though, that his plan kicked in because that's when he used his power of flight to turn them around and shoot them towards the ground below.

He could feel that Cage had clued into what was coming and was struggling but, fortunately for him, he was tough enough to be able to take the hits right up until impact.

The landing rattled him a bit, too, given the force with which he'd landed, but as he rolled to his feet he was glad to see that it'd been worse for Like Cage, who was seriously dazed for the moment. Shaking off the last of the damage he moved in, knowing he couldn't allow Cage to get his bearings back if the overall mission was to have any chance at success. Spotting the Statue of Liberty out of the corner of his eye he got an idea and so grabbed Power Man by the leg before spinning round and round to build up momentum.

"You look like you could use a wake up call!" he said just before releasing his opponent. "A splash of cold water oughta do the trick!"

His throw wasn't entirely perfect as the big guy wound up scraping the side of a building along the way but the target was still reached with no other collateral damage that he could make out.

 _It'll probably take about fifteen minutes for him to fish himself out and then get back._ He looked to see how his teammates were doing. _We've gotta finish things up by then._

Lyra had decided to tackle Iron Fist and was doing pretty good. In fact it almost looked like she knew what the guy was going to throw before he did. At the same time, though, the guy with the bandana mask was damn good when it came the martial arts and therefore was holding his own, if only just barely.

Thena was duking it out with Hercules but in their case the fight was seesawing back and forth, though whether that was due to Thena's skill or the fact that the so-called 'Lion of Olympus' was flirting with her, he didn't know. This was both a good thing and a bad thing since it meant the ladies' man wasn't taking his opponent seriously, making the fight closer than it might've been. However the chance was pointless since the daughter of Thor was getting ever more furious with each come on and pick up line Hercules sent her way. As a result her attacks were growing ever sloppier and power-centric, making it easier for the muscle man to evade or block them. Still, it wasn't all bad since it'd be a while before that fight would be decided, giving him time to evaluate the other fights to determine where he was needed most.

Janet and Pepper were focused on She-Hulk, keeping their distance the entire time while peppering the jade giantess with their firepower. Unfortunately the green Amazon was proving to be every bit as durable as her male counterpart and her ridiculous level of strength allowed her to cross distances with a single leap or lunge at her foe faster than most would think possible. Janet's tiny size and significant aerial prowess made her hard to pin down but at that size her bio-electric stings wouldn't do much against her sparring partner. As for Pepper, her weapons were having more of an effect but even his novice eyes could tell that She-Hulk had enough experience sparring with Iron Man to make direct hits rare indeed. Glancing blows were the more common type of shot that connected, with everything else missing by a good foot or two even with the targeting program that was in Pepper's suit. However since it looked like Shulkie was playing by the good guy rule book, none of the hits she managed to score on Potts were serious enough to do more than daze the young redhead.

Taking a moment to think he knew what he had to do.

"Wasp! Rescue! Go help Thena take down Hercules!" he ordered as he charged towards She-Hulk. "I'll handle Jade Jane here!"

To their credit they didn't question his order for a second but rather broke off their attacks and began flying towards Thena's position. With a little luck the amount of force three scorned ladies were capable of would be enough to remove Hercules from the picture, allowing them to make one final go at Iron Lad before they got out numbered again.

"Normally I'd bring flowers to a dance like this!" he said as he feinted with a right before throwing a left. "Hope you're not DISAPPOINTED!"

"NAH! I prefer to get to the meat of a date rather than get hung up on the small things," She-Hulk said with a smile as she blocked his punch. "Here's hoping you can keep up!"

There were SO many ways he could interpret her words and just as many ways he could retort but he chose not to on the grounds that it wouldn't exactly make him look good in anyone's eyes. Instead he focused on finding a way to yank the lady out of play as quickly as possible so they could finish their mission, pronto. The longer they let things go on, the more heroes that'd likely show up and the more obstacles would be placed in their path.

 _It'll be nice when we're all back where we belong,_ he thought as he grabbed Shulkie's roundhouse kick before it could connect and yanked. _Vamps and demons'll be a vacation by comparison._

 _ **Captain America's POV**_

"Uuuhhh…" he groaned as he worked his way back to his feet.

It only took him a few seconds to remember what'd happened and he quickly scooped up his shield before assessing the immediate area around him. Near as he could tell there was no sign of the unknowns, Iron Man or Jessica but he could clearly hear sounds of battle going on close by. Without hesitation he began to run towards the noise, believing that Tony and Jessica must be dealing with the attacking team. Given how the green-skinned women fought, he felt all the more driven to get to their side as quickly as he could because he had his doubts that even Iron Man would be able to beat her. She fought at a level he hadn't been expecting, especially given how she very much looked like She-Hulk in skin tone as well as strength. While Jennifer had been trained by him into a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, against the woman clad like Thundra it struck him as having something… more to how she fought. There had been fluidity, a superhuman level of foresight, that had taken him by surprise and pushed him to a level of fighting prowess few others had managed since the day he'd first picked up his shield.

If the other unknowns were as formidable as her then they would need more than just him and Iron Man to stop them from getting their hands on Iron Lad.

Worse than that, this was precisely the sort of thing that the Young Avengers would likely involve themselves with just to prove that they could fight side by side with their heroes. If the other three were as formidable as the one, he fought then the teenagers wouldn't stand a chance and could wind up getting seriously hurt. They just didn't realize how dangerous it was to fight the good fight and he feared that, by the time they did realize the truth, it would be too late for them to choose another path.

As he turned the corner that'd bring him to where he believed the battle would be, he was both reassured and worried by what he saw. Fighting against the unknowns were three friends he knew well and, from the looks of things, they were faring better than he had but the group that had been named the young Avengers were on the ground, with only Iron Lad still standing. From his current distance he couldn't tell whether they were dead or just unconscious but neither possibility sat well with him, causing him to push his legs to close the distance even faster.

"Iron Lad! What's the situation?" he asked, hoping the possible future Kang had at least taken the time to check on the condition of his teammates.

"Cap! I… er… Patriot and the others are alive but they're in rough shape," Iron Lad replied with a start at his arrival. "Nothing life threatening, fortunately. Some time with a first aid kit and maybe some Tylenol would probably take care of most of their problems."

This relieved him greatly since nothing would have bothered him more than learning that he'd been too late to steer the kids away from harm. However it did bring up an interesting point: if the four unknowns had been sent by Kang to retrieve Iron Lad, then why were they pulling their punches? During the past encounters the Avengers had with the time travelling conqueror, he'd shown no such restraint in how he chose to deal with obstacles to his objectives. Indeed the man seemed compelled to go out of his way to demonstrate his superiority over his enemies. Why would he choose agents that had codes of honor that prevented them from doing unnecessary harm to their opponents?

"Iron Lad? Do you recognize any of Kang's agents?" he asked, checking on a theory he had. "Specifically were any of them mentioned in your history classes or a documentary?"

"No… no they weren't. They might bear a resemblance to some heroes I was taught about but I don't know who they are." Iron Lad replied after a moment's thought. "Give me a second… no, they don't match anything in my armor's files either."

"Well, that pretty much ruins my theory that they're afraid about affecting their own futures," he said as he tried to think up other possibilities.

That meant that Kang must've ordered them not to seriously injure anyone who got in their way out of fear that the unexpected death of an Avenger might alter the timeline unfavorably. The more he thought about it, the more it didn't make sense why Kang's agents would be taking such care not to harm their opponents too severely. Unless… unless they had more in common with the Avengers in how they thought then Kang's own malevolent point of view.

Could they actually be heroes or potential heroes duped into doing Kang's bidding?

With uncanny speed this possibility became a certainty since it fit with everything he was seeing and what he'd personally experienced fighting the lady hulk beforehand. He had to stop this fighting! It only helped Kang and was unnecessary.

"Iron Lad I need you to get everyone's attention," he said, making it clear this was an order not a request. "Give me the biggest light show you can manage!"

"You got it!" Iron Lad declared before he raised his palm repulsors to fire into the sky.

All at once crackling energy and near blinding light was introduced that had him looking away for a few seconds until it all came to an end. When it did he figured it was safe to say that he had the attention of everything with a direct line of sight to him at the moment.

"EVERYONE STOP FIGHTING!" he yelled in the hopes that his 'command' voice would cut through any lingering aggression. "I think we all need to have a little talk. NOW!"

Directing his most piercing glare at the unknown that looked like a young Namor, he hoped the young man would be able to reign in his teammates if he could be persuaded to stop fighting. Seeing the youth glancing about the immediate area, he could tell that he was weighing the variables in order to determine if talking was really in his best interests. Taking a look for himself, he could tell that neither Jennifer nor Hercules were feeling overly pressured by their respective opponents but the unknowns, on the other hand, were barely managing to hold their own in their respective fights. They were talented, he wasn't disputing that, but taking someone down without doing them serious harm wasn't as easy as some would think. It took control, precision and enough insight into your opponent's fighting style to know when to strike. He had every confidence that if the battle continued to its conclusion he and his allies would come out victorious.

"Fine. Ladies? Stand down," the young Namor said before taking a somewhat more at ease posture. "Now what exactly is it you want to talk about, Avenger?"

"Just to clear up a few facts. Who told you to travel through time to capture Iron Lad?" he asked, wanting to get that little truth out into the open.

"Well, I got hired by Nathaniel Richards to bring back his little brother, who'd taken off into the past with fortieth century tech, including time travel gear," Young Namor replied, a stone face concealing emotion. "He figured it wasn't a good idea for guy who wasn't even old enough to drink to be messing around in the past with that kind of hardware. Plus he had a pretty good paycheck he was willing to hand over in return so I figured why not. My teammates were recruited by a lady named Ravonna. Don't know what they were promised, though."

 _This is definitely a deviation from Kang's usual M.O. but it's definitely him,_ he thought before saying, "I think it's only fair to tell you that Nathaniel Richards is the civilian identity for Kang the Conqueror and Ravonna was the name of his consort. The latter is dead and the former has clashed with the Avengers enough times to make it clear he's an enemy to any sane and honorable person alive. You're being used. I doubt Kang has any intention of honoring any promises he made to you."

"Don't suppose you have any proof to back up that claim?" young Namor asked, sounding skeptical of the explanation.

"He doesn't but I do," Iron Lad said before projecting a hologram showing his encounter with his future self in the thirtieth century.

However that was just the beginning.

The kid also showed a clip reel of every encounter Kang had ever had with the Avengers, with enough choice sound bites to make it clear what sort of person the Conqueror really was at his core. He could tell that they still had doubts, that they were thinking that the proof could be manufactured, but at least one of them seemed to be willing to work through it.

"Any of you ever heard of this Kang the Conqueror?" young Namor asked his teammates after briefly glancing at them.

"Aye. My father told me tales of how he and the Avengers fought a war mongering despot who possessed a mastery over time and space," the Thor fan girl replied with growing suspicion. "He has not been heard of since my father's team disbanded."

"Mistress! Boudicca has information the Sisterhood has collected on Overman Kang the Conqueror as well!" chirped the device on the forearm protector of the green-skinned woman he'd fought with. "While historical files are incomplete I have located six points of correlation between information displayed by the man dog Iron Lad's armor and Gynosure's records."

The two separate sources of information did a lot to convince the remaining unknowns that what they thought they'd known was a carefully crafted lie. It was no surprise that anger began to show up on each of their faces one by one, with varying degrees of potency.

"It appears my little lies have been exposed," came an all too familiar voice from above.

Looking up, a sophisticated hover pad descended from the sky and atop it in all his usual armor was the topic of his discussion in all his foul glory.

Kang.

"However, despite what you might think, this changes NOTHING," Kang said, not looking concerned in the least.

 _ **Kang's POV**_

"I think it changes a LOT, actually!" Alexander yelled, sounding quite upset at being manipulated. "I didn't sign on to be some super villain's minion!"

"No, you signed on to retrieve Iron Lad so that he can be returned to his proper place in the time stream," he said as one without a care in the world. "That was not a lie. I only hid my true identity and embellished a bit with my explanation. You were each given ample compensation for your efforts and you WILL deliver on your end of the bargain."

"I think not, villain!" Thena said, gripping her hammer much like her father did before attacking. "The daughter of Thor is no one's puppet! If you wish Iron Lad then you shall have to claim him yourself!"

"Does she speak for all five of you?" he asked the collected group of agents he'd recruited.

A round of nods from the remaining four confirmed that they no longer wished to do his bidding in this matter.

"Then permit me to remind you of one important fact," he said with a cruel smile. "Only I know timelines or dimensions you each belong to and only I can return you to them. Complete your mission or be forever separated from the people you care for."

"Nay, mortal! Now that I possess Mjolnir I can cross between timelines every bit as easily as you can!" Thena boasted, showing she had not even half her father's humility. "I can return my compatriots to their proper places!"

"Foolish child. There's a reason they call it the multi-verse," he said, not bothered in the least. "There are literally hundreds of thousands of timelines to choose from. Some are nearly identical to the one you're in right now while others will seem so alien you will not recognize a single bit of them. Do you truly think you've mastered the fallen Thor's hammer so thoroughly that you can sift through all the possibilities to find just the five you seek?"

He would be lying if he didn't think that EVENTUALLY she might manage to find her own reality, as well as those belonging to her teammates, but he was pretty sure most of them would be dead by then. Judging by the scowl she was sending his way, she knew this as well and so he smirked at his victory.

"I think you're forgetting, Kang, that the Avengers have come across more than a few means of crossing dimensions, realities and timelines since the team was founded." Captain America pointed out, clearly attempting to neutralize his hold on his agents. "Even if you refuse to return them to where they belong, we can still help them."

"EVENTUALLY, perhaps, Captain, but do you really think they have the time to wait that long?" he asked, deciding to see where this went. "After all, just as time passes here so too does it pass in their respective timelines and dimensions. How much could happen while they waited for you to send them home? The life of a costumed hero, of an Avenger, does not often give one time for such painstaking work like sifting through the multiverse. How many times will they have to 'wait' while you deal with whatever crisis happens to pop up? I estimate that if they place their hopes in you and your allies, it will take no less than three years before an attempt can even be made to send them home. Are you willing to wait that long, my agents?"

He could tell by the fury on their faces that they fully understood what he was implying and it only pissed them off that he could be right.

"So what will it be, my defiant agents? Will you hold up your end of the bargain and peacefully return to your timelines of origin?" he asked as he looked each of them in the eyes. "Or will you refuse, never to see your friends and loved ones again?"

In truth he already knew what their response would be because it was the one he desired that they have for his true goal to be reached. However… if he truly wished the necessary bonds to form, he would need to keep Captain America and the others out of the primary fight. Only if all the youths fought together as one would he get the results he desired.

"I don't know about the others but I pick option C," Alexander said before shooting through the air towards him. "KICK YOUR ASS AND FORCE YOU TO TAKE US HOME!"

Internally he smiled as he watched not only Alexander but also his team along with the Young Avengers form the first wave of those wishing to fight him. He couldn't have planned it any better even if he'd had a decade to do it in. He allowed the son of Namor to strike his barrier, causing it to flare for a moment, but he was not concerned. When he'd chosen to intercede himself at this juncture he'd made sure that the barrier was impervious to kinetic impacts of any kind. A fully enraged Hulk freshly returned from Sakaar would not be able to bring down this barrier. He waited until the third blow landed from the third attacker before he made his next move.

"Very well, young ones!" he snapped as though irritated by their defiance, "If you wish to fight me then so be it!"

With a thought he shunted all eleven youths to a section of Limbo that existed outside of the time stream where there would be naught but barren rock to be had in all directions.

"KANG! Bring them back!" Captain America demanded, looking as though he would use force if his demands were not met.

Amusing.

"Do not worry, Rogers. I would not dream of leaving you and your fellows here without anything to do," he said with mock courtesy before using his armor to bring three beings into existence. "I shall allow my elite guard to keep you entertained until my 'negotiations' with the children have concluded."

He did not truly expect his elite guard to prove much of a match against so many powerful Avengers, even equipped with fortieth century weaponry, and time tech but they would last long enough for him to get what he wanted. Thus, with a thought, he transported himself to where he'd sent the youths and made sure he arrived only two seconds after they had in order to make full use of the time he had.

"Now then…" he said with a malicious smile as he pulled two Type Three concussion pistols out of the future and into his hands, "…shall we get this over with?"

"Yeah, but you're not going to like it, Kang!" Patriot said with the Captain's old, non-circular shield at the ready. "YOUNG AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"

As a group they charged him and, as he opened fire with his two pistols, a part of him found it so odd to be viewing the battle from this side rather than the other. Still, he had to put forth a convincing performance if all was to proceed as he had planned, so he used his skills as a conqueror wisely, focusing on those that were the greatest threat. His first two shots struck Alexander and Thena as both were capable of unaided flight as well as strength that could put SOME pressure on his kinetic barrier. Next he used both pistols to take out Lyra since her 'gamma vision' would prove most troublesome if things played out as his new memories said they would. As he saw her neatly evade both concussion blasts he couldn't keep half a smirk from forming on his lips as he imagined how helpful that would be in the weeks to come for the young team. By the time he lined up his younger self for a shot they were close enough for those skilled in hand-to-hand combat to participate along with the long range specialists.

"Take that and that and THAT!" Patricia Potts yelled as she fired repulsor blast after repulsor blast at him while changing her position constantly. "And try THIS ON FOR SIZE!"

With that her armor unleashed its uni-beam that, impressively enough, managed to obscure the others from his sight for a time due to its brightness. However it didn't do more than cause his barrier to drop by fifteen percent before his armor's systems rerouted power to bring it back up to full strength. Deciding he needed to apply some pressure, he quickly teleported himself behind as well as above them before raining down shots that would force them to seek cover behind the nearby boulders. He continued to use his weapons to keep them pinned down because, in order for things to play out like he wanted them to, Wiccan needed to bring his power into play.

Fortunately he didn't have to wait for very long.

Seeing his 'old friend' rise into the air, his armor allowed him to hear what the young sorcerer was saying.

"IwanttodisableKang'sforcefield. IwanttodisableKang'sforcefield," Wiccan chanted as his hands were surrounded by large masses of blue energy. "I want to disable Kang's force field! I WANT TO DISABLE KANG'S FORCEFIELD!"

With a flash of blinding light his kinetic barrier winked out of existence, showing that the lad was doing his mother proud. Acting like a true tactician should, though, he waited just until the team of Young Avengers got to their disoriented ally's side before resuming his attacks as he settled to the ground. It took some careful placing of his shots to make it look like he was trying to prevent them from attacking while giving Kate a clear opening to fire her arrow but he had years of her experience so he managed. As such things proceeded much as he 'remembered' when Miss Bishop proved that she deserved the codename Hawkeye and her arrow succeeded in striking the central mechanism to his armor located in what probably looked like a belt buckle to those of the twenty-first century.

Pain cascaded over his body as his armor's systems went out of control, frying each section in turn and forcing him to take the affected components off in order to spare himself further suffering.

"How did you-?" he heard Patriot ask in surprise as he took off his helmet.

"It's all in the wrist," Kate replied with the usual bravado. "If we survive this, I'll show you."

It was as he dropped his helmet to the ground that he saw the grandson of Isaiah Bradley charge him, right arm cocked to throw a punch.

"What do you mean 'if'?" Patriot asked, sounding all too confident. "Without his armor, Kang's…"

 _Foolish boy,_ he thought as he easily caught the punch. _He really must learn not to underestimate his opponents. A lesson I shall drive home!_

With a vicious backhand he brought Eli Bradley to his knees, disoriented and helpless, leaving only Kate close enough to be an immediate threat until the others saw that they had a chance to attack.

"Let him go!" Kate demanded with one of Swordman's swords in hand.

"Haven't you done enough damage?" he asked with confidence. "You've destroyed my armor, stranded us all in this section of Limbo and left neither of us with the means to leave much less return to where we belong."

"Not bad for a girl with no powers, huh?" she asked rhetorically as she prepared to take a swing at him. "Now let him go, or I'll—"

Much like Patriot, the girl might have potential but she was far too inexperienced to possibly harm him so it was simplicity itself to relieve her of her weapon, knock her to the ground and point the tip of the blade at her throat.

"You will tell me where the boy is," he demanded while pressing the tip that much closer to her throat. "Where is Iron Lad?"

"Right here, Kang!" his younger self spoke from behind him. "Just leave my friends alone and I'll go with you."

 _Ah… time for the next Act in the play,_ he thought, knowing fully that it was Hulkling in disguise. _I might as well keep to the script._

"We'll need your armor," he said, not letting his blade waver in the least.

"Put down the sword and I'll give it to you," Hulkling said, sounding appropriately defeated. "Please…"

According to his new memories, which were in the process of being rewritten by the time stream, he was indeed supposed to drop his blade, allow his 'past self' to check on Kate and then be 'caught by surprise' when Hulkling turned and attacked him. However, given all the players on the field, that would be unwise since more than a few of them might actually do him some harm if he let go of his hostage. So he would take a different tactic this time around in order to properly reflect the current strategic situation.

"No. Give me the armor first and I give you my word that I will release her," he ordered, steel in his voice. "Do not attempt to sway me. I have the upper hand in this situation, NOT you."

For a moment he could see indecision on Hulkling's altered face but the teenager gave in just as he knew Teddy would. None of the Young Avengers or any other 'heroes' would risk Kate's life on reckless heroics.

ZAP!

Pain blurred his mind for a moment, causing him to reflexively back away from the direction his mind intuitively knew the attack had come from. It was luck that allowed him to recover in time to see Hulking return to his more familiar form and attempt to punch him but, sadly, the lad was telegraphing his punch. Ducking underneath it, he lashed out with the sword, creating a deep cut along the underside of the boy's arm, causing him to back away like all untrained warrior's did, without discipline. It didn't take him more than three seconds to realize what must have happened. So focused had he been on Hulkling's deception that he hadn't anticipated the Wasp sneaking up on him in her shrunken form to launch a surprise attack. Unlike most of the children, she had actual experience fighting super powered threats and knew how to take full advantage of her abilities.

He'd been careless.

With the loss of his armor and his hostage, his enemies surged towards him, no doubt intending to overwhelm him with their numbers and their combined powers. Too bad for them he had anticipated such a scenario and knew all too well to make their numbers work for him rather than against him. Instead of keeping them on one side of his position while keeping his distance, he charged into their midst, weaving his way through their attacks while dealing surgical ones of his own. With his awareness of the enemies around him, he used their attacks to his advantage, such as placing himself between Potts and Thena so he could dodge the blast from the latter making it hit the former. It was like a dance, really, wherein he either evaded the attacks by the youths or turned them against one another.

 _There's just one thing I need to do before the closing act,_ he thought as he saw his past self trying to line up a perfect shot. _And for that I need to get just a little closer._

Spotting a shrunken Miss Van Dyne trying once again to catch him unawares, he adjusted the grip he had on the sword before lashing out to hit her with the flat of the blade. It would not be enough to break her bones even at her current size but it would be enough to perhaps render her unconscious or at least less than eager to return to the battle. A few more tried to obstruct his path but, for all their superhuman abilities or determination, he was the superior warrior and so within minutes he arrived at his goal.

"Command override Ravonna one one three one three two Alpha!" he declared once he was sure he was within range. "Activate emergency disassembly protocols! Final password Ravonna!"

Like all the things that had been holding it together were no more, his past self's armor fell to pieces on the ground with audible noise. It'd still be possible for him to reassemble it, to replace his destroyed armor, but he knew that was not the path things would take. Now, though, he would have to continue fighting the Young Avengers until HE awakened and then the final act could finally begin in earnest. Fortunately for him, Stature was willing to kick things off, almost literally, forcing him to dive then roll to the side in order to evade her stomping right foot. Seeing as how there would inevitably be a follow up attack, he went into another roll but, once his feet were under him, he pivoted and found himself in the perfect position to strike her arm.

Which he did, of course, since only a fool passed up opportunities like that.

It was because of that attack, though, that he was unable to evade a tackle that, oddly, had him in the air with his attacker quite a bit longer than was scientifically possible. Looking down, he was able to see why since it was Alexander who'd tackled him and the lad was almost certainly using his power of flight to keep them going. As for the likely tactic he'd wager that the Sunnydale native was probably intent on keeping him occupied until the others formulated a more effective strategy than 'GET HIM!' to use against him.

Such a determined and self-sacrificing lad was quite a rare commodity in this era.

Unfortunately it would aid him not because, unlike dear Miss Bishop, he was fully aware of his weapon's origins and capabilities.

With careful aiming and the press of a concealed button on the hilt, a beam of potent electricity shot forth, striking Alexander and inducing the son of Namor to release him, letting solid ground touch his feet once more. Once he put a dozen feet of distance between himself and the heir of Atlantis, he pointed the tip of the sword at the lad, once more pressing another hidden button as he did. A force beam shot forth, hitting its target, doing further damage to his former ally and removing him from the battle for a few minutes at the very least. A good thing, too, since by this point the flyers of the opposition had caught up with him and he needed to do something to limit his tactical disadvantage. Sadly, given the length of time since the weapon's last period of serious use, it was unlikely that the gas within was viable any longer so he chose to employ one of his last gambits.

He waited until the fliers got closer…closer…closer…CLOSER…

With all the speed he could muster he flung his right hand out at his foes before unleashing the last of the energy his destroyed armor had left in his gauntlets in the form of a blinding flash of light. With their vision robbed from them, whatever advantages his enemies had possessed were effectively neutralized, allowing him to leap into their midst, delivering one slash each to a debilitating location. It was with some satisfaction that he heard them drop to the ground in pain but with no serious injuries that Captain America or his allies would be unable to attend to in time.

"You know, I normally dislike killing children but in this case—" he said as he gloated at the other approaching enemies before a blast of energy struck his back right on schedule, causing him to drop the sword.

"Who dares!?" he growled as he pushed the pain he felt to the back of his mind.

"I do… The Vision," replied the digitized voice of the resurrected Avenger now operating Iron Lad's suit. "You have been identified as Kang the Conqueror. A time travelling warlord from the thirtieth century."

Picking up the dropped blade once more, he took the swing at the artificial being just like his memories bade him to, only for the sword to pass through the Avenger's intangible form. A leap to the side saved him from another energy blast but, before he could land and therefore solidify his stance, Vision slapped the sword from his hand before grabbing him by the throat.

"You do not belong here," Vision said in a simulated stern voice. "Return to your era at once."

"I… intend to…" he said before reaching out and pressing the hidden shut down switch on the armor the Avenger's program was inhabiting.

Like magic the armor was once again unoccupied, allowing him to put it on himself and regain the tactical advantage Miss Bishop had relieved him of minutes earlier. However, according to his memories, his past self was stealthily picking up the lost sword and was preparing to run him through with it. Normally this would be fine, however if the changes he wished to make were to work there was one final act he needed to perform before he exited the stage.

Mentally summoning the platform that his enemies had conveniently forgotten about, he initiated a program he had placed in it before he'd travelled into the past. It rose high into the sky and hovered over the battlefield while the turrets beneath it took aim at their designated targets with inhuman accuracy. He would need to wait until just the right dramatic moment but it would all be worth it in the end.

"Really, Alexander? Did you really think that I would recruit the five of you without first being confident I could defeat you all?" he asked with just the right amount of arrogance as the Sunnydale native prepared to go on the offensive again despite his wounds.

"Maybe… maybe not. If there's one thing about big bads I DO know it's that their overconfidence tends to lead to their downfall." Alexander replied, not looking discouraged in the least.

Good.

"Then permit me to inform you that what at first glance might appear to be overconfidence may in fact be confidence that is well and truly justified." He activated the final sequence of the program. "Now you and your team will pay the price for your betrayal!"

With that the five turrets mounted beneath the platform fired, striking each of his former agents in the blink of an eye, planting something in them what would be his final parting shot to each of them. In any case the trauma of the shots served to plunge their minds into incoherency, causing them to fall to the ground from their various heights, be it a few feet or a few dozen. This unexpected act also broke up the charge of his opposition since their 'heroic hearts' would compel them to feel concern for those that'd fought by their side, allowing him therefore to speak his final line.

"Who's next?" he asked with supreme confidence as made himself appear ready to conquer his next opponent.

"YOU are," replied a voice he knew all too well, a sharp pain started in his lower back before tearing a path to the left side of his chest.

 _Quick yet ruthless,_ he thought as the systems implanted within his body prepared to beam his mind to a new body. _Well done, Nathaniel._

 _ **Earth-616, New York City, 890 Fifth Avenue, Twenty Minutes After Kang Left, Iron Man's POV**_

"Well… THAT took a little longer than I thought it would," he said as the last of Kang's elite guard got slammed into the ground by a put out Luke Cage. "You think Kang's been holding back on us all these years?"

"I prefer to think that, after seeing how good we are, he finally realized he needed to step up the training of his troops," Jennifer said, standing off to his left. "But we're not done with this mess yet. There's still Kang to deal with. We need to find out where he's taken those kids and get there before it's too late."

"Right. Someone contact Reed Richards and get him down here," he said as he immediately began to take readings with his armor of where Kang and the Young Avengers had been before vanishing. "I'm repositioning a Stark Enterprises satellite with the necessary sensor suite to get the readings we need. By the time Richards gets here he'll have all the information he needs to get us to Kang."

 _Times like this it would've been really handy for Thor to be here,_ he thought even as everyone put his words into action. _All he'd have to do is whirl his hammer around and we'd have a portal that could get us there instantly._

Unfortunately the blonde thunder god hadn't been seen in weeks and, if Hercules was to be believed, then Asgard was already gone, having experienced Ragnarok. While it was something of a trend among the Avengers that none of them stayed dead for long, he doubted very much that they'd see Thor appear with a crash of lightning anytime soon. The way these things tended to work it'd be months, if not years, before his friend returned to them. Until then they'd have to rely on science to get them from one dimension to another and that, sadly, took time to set up.

Time he wasn't sure they had given how tough an opponent he knew Kang was from past experience. Even without his armies or warships he was still a warrior on par with anyone who'd ever been a member of the Avengers. The only reason why he thought they might have the time to intervene rather than writing off the entire group of teenagers was because of the sheer power Kang's former agents possessed. The green skinned girl had been able to knock down Steve solo and, even with the excuse that Cap might've been holding back some, it was still impressive. As for the duo that'd he'd had to deal with… well, now he knew for certain that he NEVER wanted to fight both Thor and Namor at the same time. Even if both teenagers had been obvious rookies, the sheer amount of power they possessed had been enough to keep him on the defensive for most of the fight. Where one fell short the other made up for it. Just when he thought he had one set up for a knockout blow, the other made sure he couldn't take advantage of the opportunity created.

As it was his armor would need some serious repairs when he got back to Stark Tower, assuming it could be salvaged at all. Not that he was entirely lacking in the armor department so, if he had to toss this one in the scrap heap later, then it'd be an annoyance but nothing more than that. He just hoped it'd last long enough to get the Young Avengers to safety and defeat Kang, otherwise he'd have to sit out the entire battle.

Light blinded him temporarily and mentally he made a note to come up with some sort of secondary light filtration system for his armor because, with his usual protective lenses cracked or broken, he was temporarily vulnerable. When his sight returned he saw something he hadn't expected: the Young Avengers plus Kang's former agents alive and well back from their battle with the warlord from the future, more or less in one piece. More than that, at the feet of Iron Lad was Kang, looking very dead, but he wasn't as bothered as others by the sight. If what he suspected had actually happened, then the kid was just following the path to becoming Kang and, even if that wasn't the case, then he knew Kang had survived. The man had been killed or destroyed more times than he could count, even if some of the deaths had been reported to him secondhand through others since he hadn't been there at the time. For a man with access to fortieth century technology who'd had time to master it, death was not as certain as some might think.

"Iron Lad! What happened?" Captain America asked as everyone behind the mansion gathered.

"It was a close fight but we defeated Kang," Iron Lad replied, sounding like there was a weight on his shoulders. "It doesn't matter. We have people here who need medical attention."

He didn't need more than a moment to figure out what that weight was: it was the weight of having taken a life for the first time. It'd happened to him a few times and it never failed to motivate him to do all he could to make sure it never came to that again. In his mind, though, how Iron Lad chose to handle this burden would be a telling hint as far as whether or not he truly would walk the path leading to him becoming Kang one day.

"Right," he said as he notified the nearest hospital to send help to the mansion. "Help's on the way."

"Good. Then it's over," Iron Lad said, sounding like he believed his quest to avoid becoming Kang had come to pass.

"No… it isn't," he said, believing it best not to let a lie cause Iron Lad to become careless. "Kang has the ability to transfer his mind across time to new host bodies at the moment of death. At best we probably have minutes before he arrives in a new body, with enough firepower to finish what he started."

"WHAT!?" Iron Lad exclaimed in disbelief that his victory could be so short lived.

"The guy didn't get the name 'Kang the Conqueror' by letting something like death get in his way," he said, looking at the young man with honesty. "If he can communicate across time then it's not unfeasible that fortieth century tech could allow him to digitize his mind and upload it via tachyon stream to a new body. As long as there's something or someone in this time period he wants, he'll just keep on coming until the costs exceed the reward. Considering his reward is that he gets to keep on existing, I doubt any cost would be too much."

It was harsh but it was also the truth.

Like most of the villains the Avengers fought, they valued their own lives above all else and would generally do everything they possibly could to preserve them, regardless of how amoral or evil the methods might be. Kang, with his grand ambitions and arrogance, would never allow himself to be erased from existence merely because his younger self refused to walk down the necessary path. In his mind there were only two possible paths things could take: either Iron Lad would have to leave this time period in order to find some place to hide or he'd have to accept his fate.

He didn't see the young man liking either option.

"Then… then what do I do?" Iron Lad asked at barely above a whisper. "I don't want to become HIM!"

"And we get that… or at least I do," came a new person to the discussion in the form of the Namor look-a-like. "I grew up not wanting to be a thing like my dad and I fight it every single day. Only difference with your situation though is that if you don't become Kang, both the past and the future get rewritten with us having no clue if it'll be better or worse than what it is right now. To be honest, I'm freaked out at all this time travel stuff but, bottom line, I think the question you have to ask yourself is 'could I really live with myself if what I wanted wound up turning everything to shit?'. You got an answer, Iron Lad?"

 _A bit crude but the basic question is the right one._

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Iron Lad exclaimed, clearly falling into denial. "You're asking me to become someone that makes HITLER look like saint!"

"I'm asking you to do the heroic thing," Namor junior said with a serious look on his face. "Only a hero would put the safety and well-being of others before his own personal desires. It's called self-sacrifice."

 _Not the sort of test I'd dump on someone during their first month on the job but it will tell if Iron Lad's character comes from the right place,_ he thought to himself with a bit of a cringe.

Seconds ticked by as a conflict of emotions swam over Iron Lad's face, never staying at the same level for more than a few seconds. Truthfully, though, the tension was mounting as those watching waited to see which way things would go but eventually the look of a man on death row locked into place on the young man's face. Without a word the young man took off his armor and, with a little manipulation, triggered a transformation that he hadn't seen coming. It didn't change into some kind of Kang robot but rather it took on the form of a friend he hadn't expected see for a very long time.

The Vision.

"Vision, I need you to use the armor's chronal programming to open a portal that will send me home," Iron Lad said once the armor finished taking humanoid form. "The coordinates should be on file."

"Searching…" Vision, for lack of a better name, said as it searched the armor's files. "Coordinates locked. Chronal portal activated."

With those words a purple vortex opened only a few feet from Vision's outstretched hand, occasionally releasing a bolt of energy that thankfully vanished once it reached two feet away from the portal.

"One last thing…" Iron Lad said as he walked towards the portal. "…Take good care of my friends. That goes for you too, Namor junior!"

"The name's Xander and you got it," the now-named Xander said with a nod.

With that the Young Avengers said their goodbyes to the young man that'd brought them all together and a little bit of him felt sad at the parting. He knew from personal experience that it didn't take long for people who fought together to form bonds and cutting those bonds was always painful. Nevertheless, it happened and, with the vanishing of the portal, everything was back to normal… leaving them back with their original issue.

Shutting down the Young Avengers before their attempt at heroics got them killed.

 _Though considering the fact that they've managed to survive a fight with Kang, they might be able to pull it off once they get out of college._

Of course this also left the matter of Kang's recruits and what to do with them. He'd back Cap's statement that the disassembled Avengers, himself included, would do everything they could to get the five of them back to where they belonged. It'd take some time and they'd likely have to consult with Reed about a few things but creating a portal that could take them to an alternate timeline or dimension would be the easy part. The hard part would be finding the specific destination unique to each of the five recruits but he already had a theory about how to do it. It was his belief that each timeline or dimension had its own unique frequency, as did everything native to it. All he'd need to do would be to cobble together something that could identify the frequency of Thena and the rest, then sending them home would be easy.

Of course he'd take a peek at the armor the girl that was obviously meant to play his role in their team of five was wearing before she left.

It was obviously Stark technology and he might just get some ideas giving it a once over.

 _ **Mount Sinai Hospital, One Hour Later, A Waiting Area, Xander's POV**_

 _Hope the girls didn't get banged up too badly,_ he thought as he waited for the docs to finish their initial diagnosis of his team. _It'd be totally crappy if they had to spend all their 'vacation time' in a hospital bed._

He didn't think that Thena or Lyra had anything to worry about, given whom their dads were, but Pepper and Janet were another story. Despite all they had going for them they were just as durable as your average human and that meant the hits they'd taken would mean bruising at the least and broken bones at the most. They'd been quite lucky that Kang had been so arrogant that he hadn't taken any of them seriously enough to deliver permanent damage. The asshole had been playing with them the entire time, using the fight as an opportunity to show off how badass he really was and how pathetic they were by comparison. From what he'd seen before they'd been carted off in their ambulances, Janet had some serious bruises going on and Pepper had gotten some bloody cuts from the sword Kang had somehow managed to use to cut through her armor. Both had been conscious as they'd been wheeled into their ambulances but he definitely saw some painkillers in their future.

As for why he was waiting to hear from the docs about their once overs, he figured since he was their team leader he was the closest thing to family they had in this dimension. Sure, Lyra would probably rip her own head off before she admitted she felt anything remotely similar but that didn't change how he'd come to see her. Until he managed to get back to his own time and the Scoobies, the jade lady and the others were the closest things he had to friends so it only made sense to stick close to them.

Assuming, of course, that the Ex-Avengers didn't split them up for some reason.

He'd overheard how Iron Man and Captain America had shut down the Young Avengers by threatening to tattle to the teenagers' parents and do even worse if they persisted. While he didn't pretend to know their reasons, he didn't like the fact that both heroes were telling the teenagers what to do with their lives. After all, being a superhero couldn't be any more dangerous than fighting demons and vamps so long as they didn't stick their noses into anything planetary or cosmic. Bottom line, free will meant that the Young Avengers were well within their rights to keep on fighting the good fight and, if Cap really wanted to lower the likelihood of them getting hurt, then he should train them. However, since that wasn't likely to happen, then the Young Avengers and the ex-Avengers would likely be butting heads well into the future.

 _Well I wish them the best of luck,_ he thought with a grin on his face. _If they ever need help they can give me a call anytime._

Hearing the sound of footsteps, he looked up to see a doctor approaching his position so he stood up to meet the guy. After his teammates had gotten wheeled into their respective examination rooms he'd politely requested if they could send someone to let him know how they're doing. He'd explained that while he might not be family, he was the closest thing to it and besides that he was genuinely concerned for their well-being despite not being related by blood. The nurse had been on the fence but apparently something on his face inspired trust so she agreed to have someone inform him once the examinations for all four were completed.

"Mister Harris?" the doctor asked, looking at him inquiringly.

"Call me Xander. Whenever someone says 'Mister Harris' I keep looking around for my step-dad. So how're they doing?"

"Miss Van Dyne has extensive bruising over thirty percent of her body," the doctor replied with a nod. "Other than that only a few minor scrapes. We have her on painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine but it will still take a little over a month for a complete recovery. Naturally plenty of rest, no overexertion and the application of ice will speed things up a bit but otherwise she'll have to take it easy."

"Not a problem. Assuming someone else doesn't take up the task of waiting on her hand and foot, I'll make sure she doesn't strain herself." He figured helping Janet out was the least he could do as former team leader.

"Miss Potts, on the other hand, suffered a laceration five inches long but fortunately it wasn't deep enough to reach the rib cage, but it did do some damage to the muscle. We've managed to stitch and dress the wound but it'll take roughly a month to heal to the point where we can remove the stitches safely. She'll be on a cocktail of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs as well but, in her case, I believe the biggest trial will be getting her to take it easy. Seems she's quite the bundle of energy or at least that's the case with her mouth since the girl never seems to run out of things to say. Light activity is permissible but nothing that could cause the stitches to break and it's likely her bandages will need to be replaced once a day."

"I'll say yes to the keeping her from popping the stitches or making sure she gets some decent R&R but I think I'll leave the bandage changing to someone else," he said, feeling a little nervous. "Considering where she got hit, I'd likely get slapped one way or another."

"Smart lad," the doctor said with an amused smile. "As for Miss Lyra and Miss Thena their wounds were not serious and they appear to possess a regenerative healing ability that is more than human. While we experienced some… difficulty… examining Miss Lyra, a nurse was able to do it eventually. Given the potency of her healing ability, she's probably already completely scratchless now.

"Miss Thena, on the other hand, will likely need a day or two in order to fully recover from her injuries but otherwise there is nothing to worry about." The doctor did not sound worried in the least. "It will take a few minutes to finish tending to Miss Van Dyne and Miss Potts but then you should be free to see them."

"Thanks Doc!" he said with a smile, extending his hand for a shake.

It was a little difficult not to accidently crush the man's hand given that he hadn't had any practice outside of fighting but, since he didn't see a wince or anything, he assumed that he'd done it right.

Trying to think of something to do for a couple minutes until the girls were ready for visitors, he decided getting them something to help their recovery being a little more pleasant. Heading for the hospital's gift/convenience store, he began to wonder what he should get them all since only Pepper and Janet would be getting any real rehabilitation done. Still, it wouldn't do to exclude Lyra and Thena just because they weren't going to have as much of a rough time of getting over their injuries. However, just as he got to within sight of the gift/convenience store, he remembered one very important fact: Kang had his car, his clothes and his money as well as his wallet. There was no way he was going to be able to pay for anything!

 _Just one more thing to kick that guy's ass for when we meet up next time!_ he thought angrily as he turned around to head back to the wing his ex-teammates were in.

It didn't take him long to reach his destination but, when he got there, he found someone standing outside the rooms he hadn't really been expecting for a few hours: Tony Stark.

"Trying to figure out a suave way of talking to the ladies that kicked your ass a bit?" he asked with a bit of humor in his voice.

"Please! The day I don't know what to say to a woman is the day I dress up in tweed." Stark replied, sounding every bit the confident C.E.O. he appeared to be on TV. "I was actually waiting for you to show up before going in."

"Me? What's up?" he asked with a raised eyebrow of inquiry.

"Well, seeing as how none of you have money or homes in this time period, I was going to offer to put the five of you up at Stark Tower. It's going to take a bit of time for Reed and I to construct a means to get all of you back where you belong and you're going to need a place to stay until then." Stark replied, sounding like it was no trouble at all for him to do it.

"Pretty generous of you, shellhead," he said gratefully but still with a bit of suspicion. "What's the catch?"

"Catch?" Stark asked, sounding like he didn't know what the meaning of the word was.

"The press might play up you being a hero and you might be one most of the time but you're still human, plus you're a businessman," he replied, putting on his 'I see through you' look on his face. "You wouldn't be doing this without getting something out of the deal yourself. What is it?"

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in getting a look at Miss Potts' armor, purely for scientific reasons, of course, but I'm also offering it out of courtesy to two counterparts of people I know." Stark replied with a slightly guilty look on his face. "Your Wasp has a counterpart in this reality and so does Pepper, making it only natural to do them a courtesy."

 _Seems simple enough._ _Still…_

"You also want to keep all us unknowns in one place so you can keep an eye on us. Considering the firepower three of us have, you don't want to take the chance of us doing something shady."

"Smart kid," Stark said with a more respectful and wary look on his face.

"You don't last in Sunnydale long if you don't keep your mind open to all the angles."

"Yeah… I guess so," Stark said with a momentary look that didn't bode well before it was gone to be replaced with a carefree look and a smile. "Now what do you say we tell your girlfriends the good news?"

"I think you've got me confused with you, Stark." he said with a humorous smile. "I only need one girlfriend to keep me happy. Besides, if I had four I'd be run ragged inside of three months."

"It's a wise man that knows his limits," Stark said as he reached out for the door to the room the four ladies were resting in until they could safely leave under their own power.

Walking into the room, he looked at each of the four occupied beds in turn to get the measure of the moods of his former teammates.

Lyra looked like she was only barely willing to humor the hospital staff by staying in the bed provided, even though her own recuperative powers would have all damage healed up within the hour. Still, he hoped that both Stark and the staff had sense enough to make sure that anyone checking up on the young woman was also of the female gender or else there'd be trouble. He didn't know the details but he did know the green skinned girl had a pretty bad opinion of the male gender and would probably throw the first male to try and touch her through the window, good intentions or not. He'd definitely make a mental note to pick a room on the other side of the tower once they all moved in so that he didn't accidentally walk in on her in the bathroom or something else potentially fatal.

Thena was a little better, though it was clear she wasn't at all familiar with modern medicine and, given who her father was, the hospital would probably have to give the room a Viking makeover in order to make the blonde feel more at home. Maybe he should have a word with Stark about getting the girl's room at the tower made over into something like that. After all, it wasn't like the rich guy couldn't afford to redo a room and, if it made Thena more comfortable for the duration of her stay, then he couldn't think of a reason why not.

Pepper, on the other hand, looked like she was suffering from a serious case of itching powder with it being the worst where the bandages and stitches were located. Judging by the conflicted look on her face, he didn't need to ask whether or not someone had already told her not to pick or scratch the bandages and stitches. From his point of view the redhead would probably need to be watched every waking minute to make sure she didn't wind up doing more damage to herself. The group would probably need to take turns since they'd all have things to do and there were certain places that were just plain off limits to him.

Janet looked to be the worst off of the group but, with some nasty bruising, he could only imagine how painful it must be to do anything at all. Sleeping, walking, talking or really anything that required air and movement would be torture even with some potent pain meds taking the edge off of things. Of all the ladies he figured that she'd be the one most in need of some TLC so he made a mental note to make sure as much of his schedule was as freed up as possible to make sure she didn't have to do a thing. He knew from experience how bruised ribs felt and they were no fun at all, especially when his parents were too dirt poor for the full treatment package, leaving him with a bottle of Tylenol and little else.

 _Not good but not bad either,_ he thought as their entry attracted the attention of the others in the room. _I just hope Kang's scheme doesn't cost us anything more than this._

When he realized what he'd just thought he really wished he could smack himself without drawing inquiring stares.

There are just some things you didn't think OR say.


	4. Relaxing and Reveling

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my stories.

 _ **Ground Floor, Stark Tower, The Next Day, Morning, Patricia 'Pepper' Potts' POV**_

"Wow! This building's tall. How tall is it? How long did it take to build?" she asked as she got rolled off of the lift platform that'd lowered her from the side of the van. "Do you live here? How long is it going to take to fix my armor? I hope it'll be ready by the time these stitches come out."

When she didn't get any answers from this timeline's version of her friend, she looked to see what the holdup was and all she saw was the man looking at her like she'd grown another head on her shoulders. She didn't know what his problem was because all of her questions were perfectly normal and definitely non-confidential, so it wasn't like she was asking him to divulge company secrets. A moment later older Tony shook off whatever had thrown him for a loop and looked like he'd actually answer some of her questions.

"Well, it's the tallest building in the city at eighteen hundred feet tall, it took about four years to make, yes I do live here and your armor should be fully functional in about two weeks." Older Tony replied, looking like he needed to think of the answers for a moment before giving them. "It would be fixed sooner but I have a business to run so I'll have to squeeze in the repair time when and where I can."

"Can't you just have someone else do it?" Xander asked standing to Older Tony's left.

"Unfortunately no. I've made it a rule not to let anyone gain access to Iron Man tech but me and perhaps two others," Older Tony replied with a shake of his head. "There's just too much potential for destruction if even a fraction of it fell into the wrong hands. Based on my cursory evaluation of Pepper's armor, it's close enough to my Iron Tech that it's just as dangerous."

 _Well at least that's one thing this Tony and my Tony have in common,_ she thought with a small grin. _They don't want their armor falling into the wrong hands._

"Well that works out well enough seeing as how it'll be four weeks before she'll be able to get into it without risking her stitches," Xander said with a shrug before turning to the building's entrance. "Shall we go on in and see if it looks as good on the inside as it is on the outside?"

"Oh, I can guarantee that it is," Older Tony said with confidence. "I've spared no expense making each room the pinnacle of modern technology and luxury. It makes any five star hotel in the city look like a roach motel by comparison. Unfortunately there's just one problem."

"What's that?" Jan asked from her wheelchair in front of Xander.

"It seems that no one wants to live here because they're afraid it'll get attacked by super villains a lot." Older Tony replied, sounding a little disappointed. "Apparently the people living in the Baxter Building and Four Freedoms Plaza have been talking around about how often the Fantastic Four have gotten attacked at home. Apparently it doesn't exactly draw in the tenants when they have to worry about Doctor Doom or Titanium Man paying an unscheduled visit."

"Well, if any cur dare attack this spire while we reside here, they shall feel Mjolnir's bite." Thena swore, bringing her hammer up to emphasize the point.

"Well, if they're smart then they'll stay away," Xander said with a grin on his face. "Then again if they really were smart then they'd find a job with a steadier paycheck than robbing banks, so we'll probably have one or two unwanted guests before we head home."

"Well, at least it won't be completely boring," Lyra stated, sounding like she didn't like staying in a building owned by a MAN.

 _Geez! I'm as much in favor of girl power as the next lady but men aren't all that bad!_ she thought as the group began moving towards the entrance to the building.

It'd been something she'd had to deal with until she'd fallen asleep last night and for most of the morning, until they'd been officially discharged from the hospital. To be fair, though, she had asked for more information about where Lyra had come from and what it was like there so she was partly to blame. At first it'd sounded cool enough with a near worldwide country populated entirely by women but then the woman with the green skin began talking about the philosophy of the Sisterhood. From there things had gone downhill, Lyra preaching the superiority of women and the foulness of men, leaving her glad that she lived in the present rather than the future. She'd have missed out on a lot if she'd wound up growing up in Lyra's time.

"Morning, Kendricks," Older Tony said to the doorman who opened the way for them.

"Good morning, Mister Stark." Kendricks said with a nod and a smile.

Once they were inside they made their way to the elevator, after which the button for the second floor from the top was pressed. The lift was pretty quick on the ascension because it only took minutes to reach their destination floor, allowing the doors to open to a floor that just screamed rich. Every single thing she laid her eyes on looked like it was worth far more than the total value of all her belongings and that made her worry about breaking something. If she did she'd probably be working off her debt for a year before she'd be allowed to go back to her own timeline.

 _Guess I better be careful,_ she thought as Stark began to show them around the floor.

The more she saw, the more she figured that she'd either have the time of her life living like a really rich girl or she'd wind up racking up such a large debt that Older Tony would never let her go home. Looking at the others, though, she figured she wouldn't be alone because neither Thena or Lyra were at all familiar with the appliances and conveniences that she took for granted. Odds were one or both of them would probably break something sooner or later, so they'd be in the exact same boat as her when it came to paying off debts.

The tour ended at the bedrooms, of which there were ten rooms total, each with their own personal bathroom and that was a fact that just about everyone was pleased with. Judging by the relief on Xander's face, though, he was probably worried about the problems that come with having to share a bathroom with four women. He didn't strike her as a sicko that'd try to sneak a peek and he did seem to have a sense of self-preservation, so she doubted that he'd risk the wrath of all of them so she figured she was safe. Just the same, though, when the question came of who wanted which room Xander chose the room furthest from the rest of them, so he probably wouldn't have to take any chances.

 _I'd have to get to know him better but if he's as good on the inside as he is on the outside, I might not mind letting him have a peek,_ she thought with a slight blush at where her mind had gone.

Sure, some people might think she was just rebounding from the whole thing she'd had for Gene Khan, aka The Mandarin, but she was SO over that world dominator wannabe. Besides, any girl with good taste in men would have to admit that Xander wasn't too hard on the eyes and the outfit he was wearing definitely showed off a chiseled body, so he had it made in the looks department. She wasn't even turned off by the pointy ears and ankle wings like some people might be back home due to the whole mutant thing. Truthfully she thought that they added a certain exoticness to Xander that set him apart from the crowd and, if nothing else, that uniqueness would make any girl dating him stand out from the crowd too.

Assuming she ever decided she wanted to give dating him a try.

Sadly reality chose that moment to hit her in the face when she realized that she'd be back home in a little over a month and that'd hardly be enough time to figure out what Xander meant to her. Even if she did eventually decide that he was boyfriend material, the only way she could make it go anywhere would be to convince him to come back to her timeline with her. The question was how one would persuade a guy to leave behind his home to come to her home. She'd have to make him fall harder than an asteroid from orbit for her in order to make that happen and that'd be hard to do since they wouldn't be able to do anything fun thanks to her stitches.

 _Hmph! This is too much to think on my first day out of the hospital,_ she thought as Lyra wheeled her into the room she'd chosen. _I'll sleep on it and make up my mind tomorrow._

"Wheel me next to the bed, would ya?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at her friend. "I feel like getting comfortable for a while."

"Very well," Lyra said before doing as she'd been asked.

It wasn't exactly as good a response as she'd hoped so she decided to try and improve the young woman's disposition.

"Look, Lyra, I know this can't be easy for you, being someplace so different from what you know, but don't let it keep you from having a good time when you can." she said compassionately as she looked the green girl right in the eye. "This time can be pretty fun if you give it a chance."

Conflict warred on Lyra's features as her upbringing went up against the truthful words she'd just heard but her teammate nodded, though it was anyone's guess whether or not the young warrior would actually do anything in the days to come. Lyra might just put on a show when she was around but then fall back into her funk when no one was watching.

She'd have to be watchful and, if necessary, gain the help of the others to make sure Lyra wouldn't have any say in the matter.

 _ **Nine Days Later, Kitchen, Mid-Morning, Thena's POV**_

 _Midgard is a strange realm,_ she thought as she went about assembling a breakfast suitable for the heir of Thor. _Yet at the same time it is pleasing._

Indeed since she had come to live in the Tower of Stark she had experienced a great many things that mortals took for granted. However the aspect of the mortal world that she found most pleasing were the multitude of different foods that could be had. 'Twas true that she had not yet set foot outside the Tower but the number of mortals that worked here included a talented cook capable of creating many a delicious meal. While she was not as enamored of eating as Volstagg the Voluminous, she did savor each meal as opposed to simply devouring it and forgetting it. Mortal cooking was not quite as good as the meals prepared by the finest cooks of Asgard but it was not without its charm. At Alexander's suggestion she had chosen to use the opportunity presented by the time she was forced to wait before returning home to better familiarize herself all things mortal. A wise idea since it would allow her to be better prepared when she returned home to take her rightful place amongst the next generation of Avengers.

She had also decided to experiment a bit with mortal clothing and was finding the garments referred to as 'sweats' to be most comfortable. They did not fit perfectly as Tony Stark's employee, this world's version of her ally Patricia, had not been able to gain her precise measurements but they were sufficient for 'laying about', as Janet had said once. Indeed, it was during the times she spent with her injured teammates that she was shown a variety of books dedicated to whatever clothing was considered beautiful or cute by the women of Midgard at the moment. While she was not completely ignorant of such things as some of the maidens of Agard also discussed such, she much preferred talk of battle and adventures to that of clothing. To hear the stories of her father's adventures on Midgard, to travel with the Warriors Three when they were sent to dispatch barbarous frost giants, those were the things she craved.

It was stifling at times to watch 'TV' and see foul criminals at work in this very city and know she could not simply take up Mjolnir to bring them to justice, but such were the terms of her residence in the Tower. While she had argued to the contrary, Tony Stark had made a valid point that this was not her world, nor was she familiar enough with the ways of Midgard, for it to be safe for her to intervene in such matters. She had more than enough experience in how terrible a turn things could take when one did not know the customs of the people she walked amongst.

Her trip to Alfheim had taught her that quite thoroughly.

Her father still teased her about what she'd done there when the mood struck him.

Whenever such feelings overcame her, though, she found other things to distract herself until they vanished and thankfully she had not yet run out of ways to do that. Sometimes she examined the oddities of Midgard world but mostly she inquired with her teammates to learn more about them and where they hailed from.

Lyra's realm of origin at first sounded ideal, a land of veritable Valkyrie outnumbering those in Asgard, however she found the young warrior's disposition towards men to be troubling. While she had had the misfortune of encountering a few dishonorable men in her life, she had met far more honorable ones. She had told this to Lyra however the Hulk-skinned woman remained skeptical of the honor of men and made it clear she could not understand a world where the genders mingled happily. Privately she wondered what could have happened to Lyra's timeline to create such a chasm of hatred and hostility between the genders. It made her choose to do whatever it took to ensure a similar fate did not befall noble Asgard once she returned to her timeline of origin.

Young Patricia's world sounded much like the one she currently found herself in except Tony Stark was the same age as her. The young woman seemed to suffer from an incurable need to speak as much as a lung full of air would permit. It made her teammate difficult to understand at times but she did the best she could and learned quite a bit at the same time. The battles against the corrupt businessmen Staine and Hammer stirred her warrior blood, causing her to respect her teammate even more, for while Patricia was not be a warrior in the style of Asgard, she had the courage of one and that was enough to place her as the equal of any warrior of her people.

Janet's world, though, appeared to be a distorted version of this one, as well as her own. The people were more cynical, the heroes less pure and the evils darker than she thought possible while still being of Midgard. Her teammate perceived her thoughts and spoke well of her world, letting her know that her home was not devoid of light and happiness. Indeed it had encouraged her greatly to know that there was a counterpart to her father in Janet's world who sounded every bit as noble. Looming over this favorable news, though, was what Kang had promised Janet and how, due to their defection from the warlord's side, had cost Wasp valuable information. Were it not for her own obligations, she might have considered travelling to her ally's realm to add her strength to the coming catastrophe. Instead she would have to have faith that Janet would somehow manage to make the most of the warning Kang had provided.

Then, of course, there was the former leader of the team Kang had assembled, Alexander, who was apparently from this timeline only six years prior. While at first she had found nothing particularly out of the ordinary about the lad, this quickly changed when he told her of the town he called home. A town sitting on a rift that led to a hell dimension and monsters that preyed upon the people, with only Alexander and his friends to stand against them. Vampire hordes, apocalypse statues and giant serpents made it sound as though there was never a moment when there was not an adventure to be had. It was even more impressive when she learned that he had been no stronger than the average mortal until Kang had recruited him.

It spoke well of his courage that he would face such peril of his own free will.

 _Indeed. That his birth father is none other than Namor, ruler of Atlantis, doth make him a suitable friend for me,_ she thought as she carried over the ingredients to her breakfast to a nearby table, _Royalty allied with royalty._

Now there was a possibility she had not considered.

Since the day she had come of age in Asgard there had been talk abound of who would be best suited to be her lawful husband and consort to the future queen of the golden realm. More than a few young warriors had approached her in an effort to win her support for the position but, sadly, each of them failed to meet the most important criteria.

Not one of them had proven capable of fighting her to a stalemate in a duel.

Indeed it would be quite unsatisfying to be wed to a man weaker than her and so all suitors had been rejected thus far. All of them had been from noble Asgardian families but that mattered little to her, for it was how formidable a man was in battle that was most important to her. It was her fondest desire to follow in the footsteps of her parents and in order to do so she needed a husband as strong as she was. Could the son of Namor be the one to meet her needs? He fought formidably against Kang and proved he could lead an assembly of warriors competently against skilled opponents, both implying much about his potential. While she would have to evaluate the young warrior firsthand, she was feeling cautiously optimistic at the moment.

"Good morning, Thena!" came a familiar voice from behind her. "Sleep well?"

Turning her head she could only grin as the very person she'd been thinking of walked into the kitchen, clad in sweats much like her. While not as form fitting as his battle garb, it still hinted at the warrior's physique just the same.

"Verily. When I return home I shall ask my father to procure one such bed for my room in the palace," she replied honestly, having enjoyed her slumber the previous night.

"Sounds like a plan. A good night's sleep is worth its weight in gold," Alexander said with a half grin as he walked to the fridge. "Though it is pretty hard to really enjoy it when nothing wears you out around here. Don't get me wrong, it's great getting a chance to live like the rich do but I'm starting to feel a little confined here. I need a little physical activity to get the ol' blood pumping but I doubt Stark'd be thrilled if I went out flying around the city or swimming in the ocean."

"Aye, he doth seem most insistent on keeping the five of us contained in his tower," she admitted with some annoyance. "Whilst it is understandable that he be protective of his city, I am the heir royal, the daughter of Thor, not some amateur that carelessly swings their weapon about. I am perfectly capable of exploring this city without carelessly damaging it."

"Same here. It's not like I'm going to go fight crime or throw down with some super villains," Alexander said with a nod of agreement. "I just want to get a work out so I can work out some of this pent up energy."

She pondered the problem for a moment before inspiration came to her as she recalled something Tony Stark had mentioned during the tour of the tower floors. She'd dismissed it initially since none of the machines within were enough to be worth her bother, but an epiphany let her determine another use for it.

"If you are looking for a means by which you can expend your pent up energy, I believe I have discerned a method by which you can do so," she said with a smile on her face. "However it shall have to wait until after breakfast since both of us will require a great deal of energy soon."

Indeed a sparring session between the two of them would take all they could offer in order for both of them to be satisfied with the ending.

She just hoped that Tony Stark had possessed foresight enough to reinforce his gym for sparring between two powerful warriors.

 _ **Five Days Later, Afternoon, Janet Van Dyne's Bedroom, Janet's POV**_

 _It is official: bruised ribs SUCK!_ she thought as she maneuvered herself into the wheelchair she'd been given. _Even with all the painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs in my system, moving still hurts!_

It'd been almost two weeks since Kang had hit her hard enough to leave some serious bruised ribs and basic movements still hurt. That, of course, meant that the physical rehabilitation regime the doctors had put her on before she'd left the hospital hurt all the more, even though it was considered a light workout. According to what she'd been told she couldn't work out any heavier until three weeks had gone by at least and even then it'd be incremental. Fortunately, if all the gab about the Tower was true, the portal to get her back home would be ready for use right around the time the doctors said she'd be fully recovered physically. She needed to get back to her own timeline in order to avert the catastrophe Kang implied would happen soon. Lives were on the line and, as a member of the Ultimates, she refused to let them down.

Until then, though, her day was made up of rest in the morning, rehabilitation in the afternoon and leisure in the evening before turning in for the night, then rinse and repeat.

Rolling her wheelchair towards the door she hoped that Thena and Xander hadn't sparred yet, otherwise she'd have to reschedule her rehabilitation for two hours from now. That's how long it usually took for Stark's employees to replace the damaged gym equipment and, after five days of it, the repair and replacement staff had it all down to a science. It took three days of the pattern before this timeline's Tony Stark finally paid them a visit to find out what was going on, and he took it well enough in her opinion. Apparently he was no stranger to two warrior superheroes duking it out and damaging property since it had happened more than once at the old Avengers Mansion. Usually it was that pig Hercules who started it or some other macho guy who couldn't help but throw down whenever someone questioned his abilities as a man and a warrior. Fortunately Stark had foreseen these sorts of problems when he'd had the Tower designed and made sure everything essential was made with nigh-indestructible materials. Every wall, both on the outside of the building and on the inside, was made of Vibranium-reinforced concrete, with the windows also being similarly reinforced. With those kinds of additions it'd be impossible for the damage from Thena and Xander's fight to leave the gym room, resulting in the only damage being to the exercise equipment and the mirrors.

Tony had still warned them to try and minimize the damage they did but she honestly couldn't tell if they'd actually if they were making an effort of it.

As she reached the elevator that'd take her to the gym when, without any action on her part, the doors slid apart. When they were finished she found herself looking at a woman standing five and a half feet tall, with blue eyes and auburn hair that looked oddly familiar. She knew the woman wasn't from her timeline, so she must've seen her in a picture from this timeline, but for the life of her the name just wouldn't make its way off the tip of her tongue.

Apparently her confusion showed on her face because a smile appeared on the woman's face.

"Maybe this'll help," the woman said before suddenly shrinking down to something that could fit in the palm of her hand.

"You're… me!" she gasped in surprise as the miniature maiden set down on her lap. "The version of me from THIS timeline."

"Yeah. Tony called me and Hank while we were over in Oxford and let me know what was going on," Local Janet said with a nod of her head. "When I heard you'd come out of the fight with Kang with some serious bruising I thought I'd stop by to see how you were doing. After all, if you can't be there for yourself then you can't be there for anyone else, right?"

"I guess not. I'm on my way down to the gym for my rehab," she replied with a grin as she rolled her chair into the elevator. "Care to come with and we can talk on the way?"

"Sure," Local Janet replied as she returned to normal human size in her black and gold form-fitting costume and picked up the clothes she'd been wearing.

"Just be ready to shrink at a moment's notice," she said, gingerly reaching to press the right button. "Thena and Xander might be sparring in the gym, so there's a chance they'll get a little carried away."

"I heard about that," Local Janet said with a chuckle. "Tony said something about deciding to buy gym stuff in bulk for the next three weeks. Are they really that bad?"

"They start out reasonable enough but then one of them gets backed into a corner they always take it up a notch or two. From there… let's just say neither of them like losing and both of them enjoy a good fight."

"That sounds familiar," Local Janet said with a smile. "You would not believe the number of times a training session in the Avengers training room turned into a brawl."

"Was it just the guys or did some of the girls catfight?" she asked, genuinely curious about the details.

"Trust me, it might be the cliché that only the guys get caught up in senseless fights but it's happened often enough to the women on the team that I know it isn't true," Local Janet replied as they arrived on the desired floor. "Anyone's capable of dropping their IQs for a couple of minutes and letting their fists do the talking."

"I guess," she said, honestly not being able to recall any fights between allied superheroines.

Nothing more was said as she rolled herself down the hallway on a familiar route to the gym and, before she even set eyes on the entrance to the room, she could hear the sounds of fighting. She didn't quite roll her eyes but she knew that she wouldn't be doing any rehabilitation exercises anytime soon. Still, it might be amusing to see how this timeline's version of herself reacted to the sight of Thena and Xander going at it, so she continued to travel to the gym.

When she opened the doors she looked over to the exercise mats and, as she'd expected, both of her ex-teammates were on them, with their arms raised for a fight. Clad in shorts and tank tops the two of them began exchanging blows almost immediately, with neither scoring a direct hit on the other even as the minutes ticked by. Based on what she'd seen the last few times she'd watched the two of them spar, she believed that this stalemate was more due to Thena getting used to Xander's moves. While Xander was not a complete novice at combat, his skills came about as the result of a spell and, by the young man's own admission, those skills were incomplete. Thena, on the other hand, would have been instructed by the best Asgard had to offer and the girl had made it clear she wished to be just as good a warrior as her father. This drive would've had her training vigorously and that would outmatch Xander's own borrowed skills in a serious fight.

Another reason that the fight wasn't ending quickly was the fact that it was strictly hand-to-hand, which meant that Thena could not use Mjolnir. While not helpless without the weapon, she'd been able to tell that the young woman preferred weapons to hand-to-hand, so her punches and kicks weren't as good as they could've been.

Faster and faster the blows were exchanged until they were going too fast for her eyes to follow but, as vibrations began to go through the air and floor, she realized that the two of them were increasing the power behind their strikes. At first it was small, almost impossible to perceive, but the minutes ticked by the physical signs of what was going on were seen by those perceptive enough. Eventually the loose weights were bumped out of their resting places and the larger exercise machines rocked away from where the sparring match was taking place. It was when the first throw was executed though that the damage started to rack up since Xander impacted the floor with enough force to succeed in knocking over the two closest exercise machines. However the young man hadn't been fighting Thena for the past couple of days for nothing because, after he hit the ground he grabbed the arm the blonde woman had locked on his left arm. With a yank he pulled her to the ground before quickly moving to pin her.

"Ready to give up, Thena?" Xander asked playfully from on top of the young woman, with both her wrists gripped in one of his.

"Thou should know better by now," Thena replied with a playful smile on her face.

Quick enough to take everyone by surprise, the daughter of Thor delivered a successful headbutt to Xander's face and then, after freeing her arms, switched things so that she was on top, with the young man's wrists gripped in one of her hands.

"Do YOU yield, Alexander?" Thena asked, looking the young man right in the eyes with her playful smirk.

"If it saves me from more headbutts, yeah, I do." Xander replied after making a brief attempt to pull his arms loose and failing.

Considering the fact that the young man, to her knowledge at least, was capable of lifting a hundred and twenty tons at the very most, that meant only one of two things. Either Xander wasn't willing to exert his full strength in a sparring match or Thena was actually strong enough with one hand to overpower him. She didn't know which one it was but there was something she had a pretty good gut instinct about and she looked over to Local Janet to see if she was seeing the same thing. Judging by the smirk on her counterpart's face, the former Avenger was indeed noticing the same thing but it still needed to be said.

"UST?" she whispered to her local self.

"Definitely," Local Janet replied with a nod of her head and the smirk still on her face.

This caused both of the sparring warriors to snap their heads in her direction, a mix of awkwardness and irritation on their faces.

Laughter ensued.

 _ **Three Weeks Later, Just Outside Mount Sinai Hospital, Late Afternoon, Lyra's POV**_

"MAN am I glad to get those stitches out!" Pepper exclaimed as the group of five walked out the front doors of the healing house. "I was going crazy the last four weeks."

"Aye, we noticed," Thena remarked with a light hearted smile. "'Tis why we made sure that all things sugary and caffeine filled were hidden from thy sight."

"So that's what happened to all the Pepsi?!" Pepper exclaimed, turning to glare at each of them.

"It was for your own good, Pep'," Xander said, sounding only a little sorry for what they'd done. "You were going stir crazy enough on your own. We didn't need to see how bad you'd be with sugar and caffeine in you."

"You two are TOTALLY exaggerating!" Pepper declared firmly, although her reluctance to look any of them in the eye implied some concession.

"Tell you what, Pepper. Now that the entire team is fully recovered, howsabout we convince Tony to let us have a night on the town. Sound good?" Xander asked, sounding like he was volunteering to approach the rich overm… man. "We might as well get one good night together before we go our separate ways."

Indeed, they had been notified last night that Reed Richards and Tony Stark had concluded construction of the timeline portal generator. They would spend the next two days running diagnostic tests and a few trial runs in order to ensure that the device would be safe for humans to pass through. It was ideally timed since, not only had all involved recovered from their respective injuries, but Pepper's armor was now completely repaired and 'improved', according to Stark. No details had been provided as to what the 'improvements' were but, when the man had spoken to them via something Xander had called 'vid-conference', he had seemed quite certain that Pepper would like the results. This, of course, had caused Patricia to become quite eager to see what had been done but Stark had insisted that she wait until the day of their departure. The only thing he had conceded to was that Pepper could wear two bracelets, one on each wrist, that were meant to work in concert with the armor. Patricia had been told that the bracelet functions would not work until he entered a code into them but that had only caused the young woman to spend a solid hour attempting to guess the code.

She had been unsuccessful.

"Do you think he'll let us?" Janet asked as they continued to the car where their 'escort' was waiting for them. "They didn't exactly let you, Thena or Lyra out to spread your wings this past month."

"I know, but c'mon! They're never going to see us again after we go through their machine," Xander replied, not discouraged in the least. "They'd be complete Hitlers to say no to us having a night of fun before going home."

While she did not understand the 'Hitler' reference, she agreed that after a month of confinement, no matter how comfortable, their 'host' would be most unreasonable to deny them a single night of freedom. Indeed, after hearing so many things about what was considered entertainment in this time, she confessed that she was mildly interested in experiencing some of it firsthand. What really surprised her, though, was that she honestly would prefer it if Xander joined them and, if any members of the Sisterhood had been told this, their hate of her would only soar higher. They already were disgusted by her very existence, given that she had a 'father' and a 'mother' unlike the rest of them that had been conceived by the machinery collectively known as 'The Cradle'. To know that she not only tolerated the presence of a male but actually willingly desired that he accompany her group of women for recreation would make her both an abomination and a traitor to all they held dear.

Yet another reason why she would not be going through the device to travel to her timeline of origin, like the others no doubt believed.

The ways of the Sisterhood were no longer hers and it made little difference where she found her own path.

"Verily! They would be unfair indeed to deny us a single night of freedom after all we have endured." Thena said, clad in some civilian clothes that had been provided to each of them.

"Why don't we pitch the idea to our 'chaperone' and see what she thinks?" Xander asked, sounding like it was a reasonable idea. "She knows Tony, after all, and maybe if we can get her on our side then he'll be that much more likely to given in and let us out for the night."

Their 'chaperone' was none other than warrior maiden Jessica Drew, known to her enemies as Spider-woman, and someone she'd met a week ago when a new team of Avengers were assembled. It had been an unusual night in the Tower when without warning all the lights went off and all electronic equipment shut down. Even her partner Boudicca had barely managed to avoid being shut down or damaged, but it meant a great deal to her that the artificial intelligence had managed to cope. While not a person, the female program was her only tie to her old life and the only friend she had that understood the things that she took for granted.

As a group the five of them had sought out Stark but the only new information they had gained was that the power disturbance was centered around a maximum security prison called 'The Raft'. It was a facility where various super powered criminals were incarcerated in order to punish them while keeping the civilian population safe. Xander had volunteered to go with Iron Man, soon followed by Thena and herself, but the man had rejected the offer based on their inexperience in dealing with super powered foes. None of them had taken the reason well but before they could argue more the man had flown through a hatch in the roof of the room and was gone, leaving them to deal with the situation. The three of them had been prepared to leave and defy the man but Janet had managed to calm them down and make them see reason. Many a young warrior maiden had done similar things when they thought they were ready, only to result in catastrophe, causing the death of the impatient young warrior as well as others. With this recollection she had reluctantly sided with Janet and this had been enough to cause both Thena and Xander to stand down.

It was only later that they found out that someone had staged a breakout of all the prisoners and a selection of heroes had been the only thing to keep half the prison inmates from getting out. That still left the other half scattered to the winds, causing the hero known as Captain America to assemble a new team of Avengers to recapture them. She and her former teammates had not been present during the meeting the Avengers had had but they had been present upon the return of the team. The expressions on their faces did not bode well because it spoke of learning that the darkness they fought went further than they'd originally suspected.

That it went to places they thought they could trust.

It wasn't as comforting as she'd thought to learn that, much like her betrayal at the hands of the Gynosure and the Sisterhood, the Avengers had found enemies where they thought there'd be allies.

 _Is honor among warriors so rare?_ she thought as they approached the vehicle Jessica Drew was waiting in. _May I never fall so far that I keep from my allies that which they deserve to know._

"So, did the docs give you two clean bills of health?" Jessica asked as the group of five got into the car.

"Yep!" Pepper chirped, sounding quite happy.

"It'll still be another week before my skin's completely back to normal but I don't have anything keeping me from doing what I want anymore," Janet replied as she put her seatbelt on. "It'll be nice to fly again… as soon as I slip back into my Ultimates uniform, that is."

"Why do you need that?" Pepper asked, sounding slightly puzzled.

"It's the only outfit I have that'll shrink with me," Janet said before looking playfully at Xander. "If I try to shrink in anything else I'll be showing everybody EVERYTHING."

The blush on the man's face and the immediate aversion of his eyes from Janet let everyone know where his mind had gone.

While not as bad as the stories of Milago, he is still such a MAN!

 _ **Stark Tower, That Evening, Living/Dining Room, Xander's POV**_

"Thanks for loaning me some of your clothes, Tony," he said as he looked down at the outfit that screamed 'classy playboy out for a night of clubbing'. "No way I could've afforded an outfit this slick on my own."

"You're welcome, Xander," Tony said with a smile on his face. "You've been better tenants than I'd thought and you all deserve to have some fun before going home. Just… try not to let the partying get too far out of hand."

"Don't worry. Jan's mature enough not to do anything, Pepper can't do anything without her armor, Lyra… has her own reasons to keep her cool, and as long as Thena leaves her hammer behind, we'll be able to keep her from losing her temper." he said, being careful with how he phrased things. "If the smashing starts it won't be from our side."

"That's all I ask," Tony said before taking a wad of cash from his pocket. "Here's your spending money. Don't spend it all in one place and make sure you check it often. You'd be surprised how slick some pickpockets can be."

"Don't worry. I doubt we'll be able to get into any of the riskier places thanks to me and Pepper," he said, putting the money into his back pocket. "No way will they risk their licenses no matter whose name we toss around. Still, there'll be plenty of places we'll be able to have a blast at."

"How do you know?" Tony asked out of curiosity.

"Before I bumped into Kang I was planning on doing a cross country road trip. That meant reading up on every major city I planned on visiting as well as what I could do there. I got a list of five places that'll let people under twenty-one through the doors that looked like they'd be fun to go to."

"Then I'll leave the evening in your capable hands." Tony said before turning to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to get some work done. Contrary to what the papers say, it's not good business to lose track of what your own employees are doing."

"See you tomorrow morning, then," he said with a nod before doing his lopsided grin. "Don't wait up!"

"And you remember the three most important rules for a night of clubbing!" Tony said over his shoulder as he walked away. "Never lose sight of your own drink, know when ducking is the right thing to do and when it comes to women never do ANYTHING you aren't prepared to take responsibility for."

"I'll keep the first two in mind, Tony, but I'm thinking you're overestimating my chances tonight," he said, his mind immediately thinking of worst case scenarios. "My luck with the ladies tends to stick in the platonic to homicidal range. Unlike before, though, I'll be able to fly faster than I could ever run, so it won't be all bad."

Laughter was all he got from Iron Man in response before the billionaire left his line of sight completely, leaving him waiting for his fellow clubbers to arrive. He wasn't figuring it'd be happening too soon because not only was it a law of the universe that women always took at least three times as long as men to get ready but he knew two of his friends were unfamiliar with conventional clothing. Thena only knew about Viking Asgardian clothing and Lyra had lived in dystopian feminist land up until a month ago, so amazingly enough they knew less about fashion then he did. Still, with Janet helping them out, he was pretty sure that they at least wouldn't stand out too much when they hit the clubs and whatever else looked like fun. Of course if anyone tried to pick on them or act like your typical horny sexist jerk, he'd probably have to hold at least two of them back so they didn't start kicking ass.

The last thing they needed was to demolish a club or a restaurant before leaving the time period behind.

Hearing the click-clack of heeled shoes on the floor getting closer, he turned to see who it was and his mind went blank before he even realized it. The quartet walking towards him was DAMN good looking and pretty much made it a certainty that no one would even know he was there as long as those four were within eyesight. Much like him they were clad in clothes that were damn expensive, more than any middle class civilian could afford in their entire lives, but also the height of fashion, making him sympathetic to Tony considering how much it must've cost him.

 _At least I'll be able to delude myself into pretending that I have my own personal harem,_ he thought offhand before his mind finally found its equilibrium again.

"Looking pretty sharp there, Xander." Janet complimented as the parade of four came to a stop in front of him. "Just promise you'll wait until half the night is done before obliging the ladies that'll be pawing you all night."

"I doubt those ladies will be able to get through the throng of guys that you'll have to keep at bay," he said with a short chuckle. "There'll be people offering to top up your drinks all night long."

"Then I guess it's a good thing they'll mostly be non-alcoholic," Janet said with a chuckle of her own. "I learned the hard way that getting drunk is not as much fun as it sounds."

"Trust me. My step-dad forever turned any interest I had in booze to dust a long time ago," he said before rushing to move things along. "Now let's get going! The night is young and we've got a lot of partying to do!"

The five of them got into the elevator and descended to the parking garage where their wheels awaited. Fortunately for him Stark had managed to make it so that they wouldn't have to worry about things like drivers licenses, because otherwise they'd be walking to where they needed to go.

Or taking a cab but that'd drain their funds real fast, so he'd sooner walk.

"So what car should we take?" he asked once they stepped out into the parking garage. "Ladies choice."

"THIS ONE!" Pepper exclaimed before running over to a silver car that looked very sleek and expensive.

"The Aston Martin DB9 Volante," came an old voice from behind them.

Turning around they saw a man in a security guard outfit, looking like he was feeling his age that looked to be a little over eighty years of age. Nevertheless he had to give the guy credit for sticking it out at his age, so he gave him a nod of respect.

"Not a bad choice. Top speed of a hundred and sixty-five miles per hour, five thousand rotations per minute and four hundred and fifty horse power," stated the security guard, holding out a set of keys. "Not as good as the Vanquish but then I've always been partial to Bond cars."

"Do you have a Vanquish here?" Pepper asked, looking interested in driving around in a car that'd been in a James Bond movie.

"Unfortunately no. Mister Stark has a habit of trading in any car that's more than three years old for something more current," replied the security guard with a shake of his head. "Unless, of course, it's a real classic, in which case he keeps it for his own personal use."

"We'll go with this then!" Pepper said, trotting over and grabbing the keys. "This'll be SO cool!"

"Yeah well I hope you enjoy it from the back seat 'cause you're not driving," Janet said, snatching the keys from the sixteen year old redhead. "Just because Stark can afford to have it replaced doesn't mean I'm going to risk it getting scratched up."

"HEY! If I can fly a suit of armor through the sky, I can drive a car just fine!" Pepper protested before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Except this car isn't made out of metals that can take a tank shell and still work," Janet pointed out as she began to walk to the driver's side door. "Wait until you're a little older, kiddo."

"Age before beauty then." Pepper said sarcastically as she went for the front passenger side door.

They all laughed since they knew that Pepper didn't mean anything malicious by her words and a minute later they were pulling out of the Stark Tower parking garage. As they weaved through traffic the girls began to discuss the possible places they could do to and he was content to let them have the first couple of says on where they'd go. Not only was he outnumbered four to one but this was Janet and Pepper's recovery day, so it was only fair for them to get first pick. He'd wait until they were almost ready to turn in for the night before making his own suggestion for their final stop hoping that they'd agree.

Even if they didn't he was pretty sure whatever places they chose wouldn't be so girly that it'd wind up being torture for him.

Looking to his left at Thena and Lyra… he'd be willing to deal with a lot of girly stuff.

 _ **Six Hours Later, 409 W. 13**_ _ **th**_ _ **Street, 'Kiss and Fly' Club, Patricia 'Pepper' Potts' POV**_

"This place is AWESOME!" she said as she looked around at the chandeliers and detailed paintings on the ceiling.

"Definitely a step up from 'The Bronze'," Xander said, looking about without straying too far from the group. "Didn't think that the door guy was going to let us in for a second there but I guess I was wrong."

"This place is exactly like the one back home, right down to the door man." Janet said as she started bouncing a little in sync with the music being pumped through the speakers. "It is hard to get into for most people but as long as you can prove you know someone big or have beautiful lady on each arm, they'll usually let you in."

"Guess that means I'm lucky I didn't come here solo," Xander commented, still taking in the whole room. "So dancing first or do you gals just want to sit down and enjoy a drink for a while?"

"I'm a little bushed from the last place so I just wanna sit for a bit." she replied, genuinely feeling a little fatigued.

"Sounds good to me," Xander said, not looking tired but not looking to be in a dancing mood either.

Without any further opposition to this idea Janet headed off to the bar to get them something to drink while the rest of them started looking for a free booth that could hold five people comfortably. They'd been at it for six hours so far and they'd figured out pretty early on that, while there were clubs for people under the legal drinking age, they weren't nearly as cool as the ones for people above twenty-one. It was then that Xander had said offhand that it was too bad there wasn't a way for the underage members of their group to get some fake I.D.s just for the night so that they could party harder. It'd been Janet who'd told all of them that they might be able to do just that before she'd steered the car off the main roads to someplace else. It'd looked like a store that'd closed up shop sometime in the last couple of months but, after asking for half the cash Xander had left and an order to stay put, Wasp left them waiting while she went inside. Twenty minutes later, with a slightly annoyed look on Janet's face, the woman returned and handed them each an ID card proclaiming them all to be over the age of twenty-one. The only thing missing was the picture that usually was in the corner but Janet said they could just go by one of the photo booths, get a couple snapped then laminate the photos in place before hitting the better clubs.

Fifteen minutes later they hit their first twenty-one and up club, doing whatever came to mind and before long they were partying harder than anything she'd experienced before. They danced, tried club food, talked and sipped the occasional alcoholic beverage (Janet made sure neither she nor Xander drank too much) among other things that were unique to each establishment. It wasn't a completely smooth ride since Lyra hadn't reacted well the few times to some guys threw a few pickup lines her way, and the mouthy A.I. virtual pet Boudicca certainly hadn't helped matters either. Then, of course, there was the one asshole who'd noticed Xander's pointy ears when no one else had thus far and started going on a 'mutie' rant. Xander just rolled his eyes and politely told the guy that he was, in fact, one quarter Atlantean and then pointed out how he looked more than a little like Namor. That'd, of course, derailed the rant for about a minute before the idiot'd gone off on an anti-merpeople rant, but thankfully the club bouncers had tossed the guy out.

As for Thena the only real issue with her was the few times she'd thrown her glass down onto the floor and yelled 'ANOTHER', but that had been stopped after explaining that the cost of the glasses would be put onto their bill. There'd still be a few close calls from time to time but eventually the young blonde woman had adapted to the new rule and everything had been fine.

 _All in all we've got nothing to complain about,_ she thought as they found a free booth and settled in.

Nothing they could do anything about anyway.

She had to admit that she wasn't one hundred percent happy about going back home because in the one month she'd spent with her second team she had grown close to them. It couldn't be helped when you lived together with people for so long, so leaving them saddened her a bit. She'd still go home, her Dad and the others were there, but before that happened she wanted to soak up as much time with Xander and the others as possible so she'd have good memories to take back with her. Maybe she'd be able to take a photo or a short video of all of them back with her so she could play it on her computer anytime she wanted to remember.

 _ENOUGH!_ she thought harshly as she shook her head. _All this doom and gloom is ruining my good vibes! Focus on the fun! Only the fun exists!_

Fortunately the drink Janet brought back for her helped to turn the comfortable buzz up a notch, making it easier to focus on it rather than what'd be happening in the future. They talked and, on a whim, she asked Xander to dance with her out on the floor, but for some reason he begged out of the dancing earlier than she'd thought he would. She knew from the sparring matches he'd had with Thena and from tonight that he had some serious stamina so he couldn't be tired yet. Was it because he couldn't keep up with the dance moves she'd improvised on the spot? They'd just felt so natural and so she'd just gone with the flow, letting her impulses guide her movements from one moment to the next. She'd pouted a bit when they'd gotten back to their booth but all was forgotten (or was that forgiven?) when a song she liked started playing from the club's sound system.

Too bad it all had to end when the wall on the right side of the room exploded inwards, scaring the hell out of everyone, scattering them along with the dust and cement fragments. When it all cleared up she was able to see three very LARGE people standing in the hole that'd been made in the wall but it was safe to say none of it was fat. More like oversized muscles that you wouldn't get without a steady six month regime of steroids and maybe some plastic surgery. It was at this point that she realized that they were wearing costumes of some kind and one of them was holding a thick chain that had a wrecking ball at the end.

Super villains!

 _And me without a way to get my armor here!_ She looked down at the bracelet with a keypad built into it. _This sucks!_

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the one with the ball and chain said as he took two steps forward. "In case this hasn't sunk in yet we're here to take all your money, valuables and anything else that might be worth a decent amount of cash. You play nice and maybe you get to tell your friends you got robbed by the Wrecking Crew. You don't… I think you're all smart enough to realize what that'll mean for ya!"

"SHIT!" Xander cursed at whisper volume as he looked at Janet. "I heard about these guys from Luke. These guys are serious heavy hitters, like fighting Thor and the Hulk heavy hitters, and with their IQs this is going to become a fight the second they spot Lyra and me!"

"Why us?" Lyra asked sounding like she wouldn't half mind things devolving into a fight.

"Simple. They'll likely make the connection between me and Namor thanks to my ears and winged feet. They'll lump you in as a member of the Hulk family by your skin tone and height." Xander replied, making it sound logical enough. "With these guys they'll assume we'll try to stop them the second they lay eyes on us and, since these guys just recently broke out of prison, they won't want to go back anytime soon. That means they'll attack first or worse, they'll grab hostages."

"We can't let either happen," Janet said with a look that made it clear she was working on possible options.

"No, we can't," Xander said as a similar look came over his face. "Fortunately I've got a plan. It's a little flimsy but it should work."

"What is it?" she asked, a little reassured that someone had a handle on things.

"Lyra, Thena and me tackle the Wreckers and get them outside. Once there we either look for a spot close by that doesn't have civvies in it and relocate the fight there or we keep the fight in close so they can't throw anything about causing more damage. Janet'll be our line holder. Any of them try to grab or attack the civvies in here, she zaps them and discourages the idea. She'll only need to do it for a couple of minutes since by then Lyra, Thena or me will be there to toss them back outside away from non-combatants."

"What about me?" she asked, eager to find out what role she'd have in this superhero smackdown.

"Well… without your armor combat is out for you, so you're on crowd control." Xander replied with only a moment's hesitation. "Get the people moving away from the fight to someplace safe. Once you're sure most of them are out of harm's way call Tony and tell him to get his Avengers down here, emphasis on the pronto."

For a moment she was about to protest not being given a more violent and satisfying role but then the rational part of her mind reminded her that it was a major super hero rule that protecting innocent bystanders was the most important job there was. Plus there was the late revelation that, against people who could knock down a wall, her sixteen year old fists wouldn't do much good, so she nodded before waiting for the fun to begin.

She didn't have to wait long.

After less than a minute of pretending that they were scared club goers so that they could get clear of their booth, Xander, Lyra and Thena charged the Wreckers position by flight or by foot. Before the monstrously muscled men could do more than start to raise their arms to fight, all three were literally tackled out the hole in the wall they'd come through before vanishing from her line of sight. Wasp was the next to move, placing herself between the hole in the wall and the club patrons, leaving her to organize the evacuation.

"ALRIGHT, PEOPLE! LET'S PROCEED TO THE EXITS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF THE FIGHTING IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!" she yelled in a surprisingly commanding tone that people actually listened to. "DO NOT STICK AROUND TO WATCH! IF YOUR CARS ARE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE FIGHT **DO NOT** TRY TO GET TO THEM! IF YOU'RE SMART THEY'RE FULLY INSURED FOR THIS STUFF!"

That last bit caused a few people she could see to look contemplative, then worried and then they let out a variety of curse words before following the person in front of them towards the designated exists.

She had a sneaking suspicion that those people hadn't done the smart thing insurance-wise.

 _ **Thena's POV**_

"Surrender, villain!" she demanded as she separated from her foe by a few feet. "Thou art going back to prison whether thou dost like or not!"

"Not going to happen, blondie!" the dark skinned Wrecker yelled back. "There's no way Thunderball is losing to some Thor Girl wannabe!"

Without a single thought she crossed the distance between herself and her foe, slamming him into the ground with an overhand right hook punch that cracked concrete as Thunderball hit. It did not render the mortal man unconscious but she had little doubt that he now knew that her mood had turned most foul.

"Thou dare to call me a pretender, DOG!" she growled as the sky above began to fill with ominous clouds. "Know that you face no 'wannabe'! You face the heir royal, the scion of the sacred storm, YOU FACE THENA!"

"Nice to know," Thunderball said as he stroked his jaw. "Now I know what to put on your TOMBSTONE!"

With strength above what an ordinary mortal, the Wrecker swung the large black ball at her using the attached chain but his attack was not beyond her ability to evade with a single leap backwards. This allowed the fool to reclaim his footing but it would avail him not for he had provoked her ire and she would see him humbled before her if it was the last thing she did. Watching as Thunderball whirled his weapon around to give it momentum, she pondered for a moment whether she should continue to combat the barbarian empty handed. While it would certainly be satisfying humbling the cur with her bare hands, it would be more difficult as she was at a tactical disadvantage and that might well lead to innocents behind harmed. A prolonged battle would not be to anyone's advantage, for it would increase the damage to the surrounding area as well as the likelihood of a civilian of New York City being drawn in.

Thus it was that she reached for the connection within her mind that linked her with Mjolnir and willed it to fly to her hand while not carelessly forgetting to evade the swings of her foe. The four foot length of chain allowed the ball of metal a wide field of effect but, even at his best, the fool's attacks were perceivable to her eyes, allowing her to escape unharmed. She made a few attempts to get in closer once the weapon's most dangerous part went past her but a near miss by a kick forced her to reevaluate the skill of her opponent. She had thought him no more skilled than any other bandit but apparently she was mistaken and therefore did not try to engage him in close quarters again.

"You sure like to talk big, girlie, but I ain't seeing anything to back it up with!" Thunderball commented with a contemptuous tone. "Why don't you go home and do yer nails? Then at least you won't be completely wastin' your time."

Thunder rumbled throughout the heavens as the gathered clouds began to flicker with hidden light almost too quickly to be perceived.

Feeling a familiar pulse inside her mind, she raised her hand to the heavens and with satisfaction she felt a leather wrapped handle slap into place, causing her fingers to instinctively wrap around her hammer's grip. Lightning crackled from the heavens, striking the ground to either side of her and she could see that the Wrecker was reevaluating her just as she had been forced to change her estimation of him. With a smile she'd seen on Fandrall's face before he went into battle she charged forward, hammer at the ready and, thankfully, Thunderball did not disappoint her with a swift surrender. As one the two of them swung their respective weapons and, when the two did meet, the waves of force the impact gave off shattered the windows close by and cracked the pavement directly below.

Again and again they attacked with neither being able to land a blow with their weapon without their foe executing a successful interception. In the end she chose to take a new approach to the conflict by waiting for the Wrecker to swing his metal ball one more time before swinging her hammer underhand. The mighty weapon hit the weapon of Thunderball with excellent accuracy and thus, much like the players of tennis that she had watched on the television weeks ago, she sent the metal sphere into the air. She had done so with the belief that either her foe would be sent skyward with his weapon or he would suddenly find himself unarmed in his struggle against her.

It appeared that the man was quite fond of his weapon as skyward he went.

Spinning Mjolnir she took to the air after her foe, who just now was beginning his descent. It took mere seconds for her to reach him and it was at this point that she exploited her airborne advantage to the fullest. With no ground beneath him Thunderball could not competently swing his weapon while she could do so with skill born of many hours of practice. Indeed she actually found that with Mjolnir in her hands, her ability to fight in the air was actually superior to when she had done so with the weapon gifted to her by her father. Before long it became clear that the mortal had no hope of winning against her… until he did something that she had not anticipated.

He threw his weapon down to the ground, where there was clearly an assortment of civilians walking blissfully unaware of the danger swiftly approaching them. With barely a thought she flew after it as swiftly as she could will it and, in her haste, she almost overshot her destination, but whether due to the strength of her spirit or pure luck she came to a stop just in time to stop the Wrecker's weapon. With a mighty swing she hit it with her hammer but only so hard so as to cancel out the momentum of the metal sphere, thus causing it to simply drop to the street below.

Anger growing on her face at the cowardice of Thunderball, she looked back where she believed him to be and was just in time to see him about to reach the street below where she'd left him. With precision born of many a contest between her father and herself she spun her hammer as fast as what little mercy she had left would permit before letting Mjolnir fly from her hand. With speed faster than the mortal eye could perceive the weapon succeeded in hitting its target, causing the Wrecker to spin three times before finally hitting the street below. Flying towards her foe, she arrived just in time to see the dishonorable dog attempt to regaining his footing but the hammer blow to the head had successfully addled the mind enough to make that extremely difficult.

"Come, Thunderball! Rise up once more so that I might strike you down anon!" she yelled angrily at the man who'd slay civilians to escape her.

"D-damn you b-bitch!" Thunderball slurred slightly as he continued to try to rise to his feet. "When I get up I'm gonna…I'm gonna…"

"Thou shall do NOTHING!" she yelled at him with the weather above echoing her emotions with rumbling thunder and crackling lightning. "Surrender or I shall ensure that you ne'er do ANYTHING ever AGAIN!"

To emphasize her point two bolts of lightning dropped from the heavens, striking the ground on either side of the Wrecker without either actually harming the criminal.

"Okay! Okay! I give!" Thunderball exclaimed, throwing up his hands in surrender. "I surrender."

"So thou art not completely without wisdom after all," she said as she reigned in her anger but kept her hammer at the ready. "We shall wait for the authorities to arrive to take you to your prison. I advise against trying to escape my grasp again."

Keeping a watchful eye on the criminal, she listened carefully for signs of how her other two comrades were faring with their adversaries. Random tremors passing through the ground beneath her feet did imply a battle and she could hear the sounds of great impacts, but without being able to see what was happening to Lyra and Alexander, a little concern was unavoidable. Still, if the other two had strength comparable to Thunderball's, then at least she had little reason to be concerned that they might be overpowered. By his own admission the son of Namor said he could lift a maximum of one hundred and twenty tons and that was far greater than the force used by the Wrecker at her feet. While Lyra was not as forthcoming about her abilities, from what she had seen during the battle with Kang it would indeed be comparable to Alexander's.

Therefore only if either of them grew careless or something unforeseen occurred would her friends be defeated.

Having sparred with both of them, her mind weighed heavily on it being the latter.

 _ **One Second After Tackling the Wrecker out of the Club, Xander's POV**_

"Alright, bucket head, you've got three choices," he said as he let go of the guy with a battering ram for a head. "You can surrender quietly, you can surrender after I kick your ass or you can surrender when the Avengers backup I signaled get here and dog pile you. What's your choice?"

"Bring it on, you damn faggot!" Bucket Head yelled as his feet touched ground well enough for him to start charging. "No Wrecker ever bowed down to a hero before and I'll be damned if the name Bulldozer goes down in history as the first!"

Remembering the misunderstanding that'd happened thanks to the whole werewolf thing back in Sunnydale, he immediately felt the urge to kick the guy's ass just to get him to take back the slur he'd thrown. However his anger also distracted him long enough for the man called Bulldozer to get some speed going and ram into him, using his head as a battering ram. It was so lame he couldn't even use the 'now that is using your head' pun because it was so pathetic and expected. It knocked the wind from him somewhat and, because he hadn't been ready for it, he was knocked head over head down the street he'd taken the Wrecker to after exiting the club. Fortunately the lingering soldier training he retained told him how to recover from a situation like this so he positioned his feet and came up from the last roll.

Looking down he could see that the fancy shirt Tony had loaned him was dirtied and torn up and, while it might be within a seamstress' ability to repair, he honestly didn't see the point. With rough jerk he tore the rest of it off before charging the one responsible, intent of beating the asshole's head in. Sadly the other guy had similar thoughts so they met in the middle and it came down to who'd land the first blow. It was then that he remembered one of his training sessions with Thena and how she'd managed to duck one of his punches to deliver a devastating counter punch right to his stomach. Thankfully he hadn't puked his guts out right then and there but in this instance it gave him new something to try.

The side of his head was scuffed by the man's fist thanks to his misjudging of the timing but he still managed to hit his mark, the man's stomach. He hadn't known just how hard he could hit the guy so he'd punched with the same amount of strength he'd used to send Thena hard enough into the gym wall to crack it a bit. The end result was that he heard Bulldozer grunt in pain and the big guy did fold up a bit but this didn't last for more than a dozen or so seconds before the Wrecker prepared to retaliate. Backing up a bit he executed a knee thrust but this time put twice as much power behind it as he had with his punch.

THIS provoked a better reaction as it sent the Wrecker flying backwards a good eight feet up and twenty feet backwards before returning to the street with a crash. It impressed him even more as he watched the big guy getting up slow enough to make it clear he'd felt that hit and it was taking him time to get over it. However he knew that it was going to take time to finish this fight if it came to exchanging blows alone and that increased the odds of something going wrong. Either the Wreckers would get reinforced or some luckless civilian would wander onto the battlefield, providing Bulldozer with a distraction or a hostage. Neither would be of the good so he needed a plan B option and, while his foe was recovering, he rose into the air until he was high over the rooftops and had a bird's eye view of the area.

It took him less than a second to find his solution and he had to smile because, unless the Wrecker was seriously lucky, this would end the fight in minutes.

Looking down at Bulldozer, who'd finally gotten back to his feet, he leaned forward and cut his flight, causing him to go into a nosedive. However about halfway down he switched his ability to fly back on before cranking it up to what he figured had to be forty miles per hour, allowing him to slam into his foe. The idiot still put up a fight but it turned out that while getting hit with the force of ten tons was painful, his body was powerful enough to endure it even as the two of them kept flying. It was only when they got over his desired destination that he let the criminal go and watched as he fell into a new playing field he'd was completely unsuited for.

Water.

Following his foe into the water he almost instantly recoiled because, unlike the underwater obstacle course Kang had put him through, the water in the Hudson river was definitely polluted. He didn't think he'd be harmed by the stuff in the water but it felt wrong on so many levels that he knew he wanted to get this fight over with quickly. Getting moving he immediately navigated back towards Bulldozer, who seemed to be quite eager to get back onto solid land, and so was swimming in the direction of the shoreline.

First he struck the guy from the side to knock him off his steady swimming pace before darting away so that his enemy couldn't land a retaliatory blow. He circled around and this time delivered a hard right to the guy's kidneys before veering away and putting some distance between the two of them. Again and again he did this, wearing the Wrecker down with every blow until he saw that the criminal could no longer manage to swim anymore. Oh, the arms and legs tried to get back into the usual swimming motions but they never seemed to have enough energy to manage it. For a moment he feared that he might've injured the guy unintentionally but he didn't see any blood seeping into the water. Plus this was someone who had thrown down with the likes of Thor and the Hulk, so there was no way a newbie like him would manage to do serious harm.

As soon as he saw the criminal start sinking beneath the surface of the water he cautiously began to swim towards him with the intent of pulling him out of the water and back onto dry land. Once that was done, assuming Pepper had called Tony, he'd either wait for the P.D. to show up or for Iron Man and whichever Avenger/s the man managed to drag along. Honestly he was a little surprised that things seemed to be going so smoothly because, with the number of newspaper articles and news broadcasts he'd heard about the Wrecking Crew, he thought it'd have been harder. Sure, he was pretty sure he had the edge in terms of strength and durability, but these guys were pros, had been doing super crime for years, so he figured they had the whole 'how to fight a superhero' thing down to a science.

Not that he was complaining.

An easy fight with a minimum of property damage and, to his knowledge, no civilian casualties was DEFINITELY of the good in his opinion.

Hearing a sound he recognized as Iron Man's boot jets, he looked up to see shell head on approach with Spider-Woman more gliding than flying a short distance behind him. The latter broke off and headed off in another direction, presumably to check up on either Thena or Lyra, leaving him to deal with the co-leader of the New Avengers on his own.

"I let you five go out for a night on the town for one night and this is what happens." Iron Man said as he landed on the ground.

"Hey, in our defense we were just minding our own business when those three Wreckers came crashing in looking to rob the place," he said, thinking Tony was just joking around. "We did what any powered person would do: got them away from the civvies and kept them that way until the pros showed up. All in all I think we did a pretty good job."

"Considering all the buildings are in one piece and nothing's on fire, I'd have to agree with you," Iron Man said in a tone that made it clear he was mildly impressed. "But don't think that's getting you out of a lecture. Both you and Patricia were underage getting into that club and she sounded a bit drunk when she called me."

"Hey, it's our last night in this timeline!" he defended with a devil may care smile. "Well, for them it is anyways. Let her have one good night to remember this all by."

"Fine. Makes me glad that I code locked her Link bracelets," Tony said, letting his faceplate flip up to reveal his flesh face. "She's made a hundred and fifty tries since she got them and actually came a close a few times. Off by one or two digits."

"Really?" he asked with a bit of intrigued surprise. "Cool."

"I'm just glad she didn't stumble upon the right code combination tonight." Tony said with a half grimace. "Can you imagine how bad it'd have been to have a half drunken girl in flying armor fighting three members of the Wrecking Crew?"

That made him shake his head when his imagination came up with images of a wobbly flying suit of armor flying around, trying to blast the bad guys but only causing massive property damage instead.

 _Note to self: booze plus flying equals mucho property damage._ _Should probably make sure Pepper gives up the fake ID she has before she goes home._

"So how long do I have to babysit this guy before the paddy wagon comes to take him to jail?" he asked, looking down at the still out of it Bulldozer.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. should be along in about five minutes to take him into custody," Tony replied after his face plate snapped back down. "From what I saw flying in it looks like Thena and Lyra managed to take down Thunderball and Piledriver as well. Good job."

"Thanks," he said, genuinely happy to be praised by a famous Avenger. "Makes for a helluva a way to end a night of clubbing."

Yep this would be a night he'd remember for a long time to come.


	5. Sorry! But here's your consolation prize

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from his whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write these stories because it's fun and because there are people who enjoy reading them.

 _ **Two Days Later, The Baxter Building, Reed Richards' Lab, Lyra's POV**_

Watching as Mister Fantastic began to warm up the portal generator to send them all home or, in her case, her original destination time period before Kang intervened.

There really wasn't any specific reason why she wanted to go there but it seemed an appropriate place for her to begin her new life, seeing as how returning to Sisterhood was not desirable. What would she do once she got there? She did not have a set plan so she would make her decision after she arrived there rather than before. Perhaps she would seek out arms maidens like herself and found her own Sisterhood based on the principles of the old that she found honorable but without the prejudices she'd faced growing up. It was a pleasing thought but for now that was all it'd be since she knew not yet if there were any suitable recruits in the future, much less a place where they could gather in safety. Even in the near future overmen, Osborn in particular, still existed and would likely seek to prevent her from forming her Sisterhood.

It would be a challenge she'd relish overcoming.

"Now, just for the sake of safety, we'll start by sending Xander back to the date where Kang recruited him, then Lyra and then the rest of you," Richards explained as he use his elastic body to operate the machinery. "The process by which this works is simple. First I scan the traveler on a quantum level in order to ascertain their precise quantum frequency. This will allow me to find precisely which timeline and even which date they were extracted from to within five hours of when they were extracted. Once we have a location entered into the portal we wait for it to stabilize and then you simply walk through, instantly being transported to the destination. Simple."

"I know that's the way it sounds but I'm still a little edgy," Xander said with some wariness in his voice. "It's been my experience that things that look simple tend to get complicated when you least expect it."

"Trust me. Tony and I have gone over this device thoroughly to ensure that no such 'complications' can occur," Reed said, sounding completely confident in his work. "It'll be a smooth ride all the way."

She didn't know anything about the sciences, she was a warrior, but she had learned to trust those that had experience with them. If it hadn't been for them she would not have Boudicca. If it hadn't been for them she'd have never made it back to the past in the first place. Until she saw evidence to the contrary, she'd assume that Richards knew what he was talking about and that there'd be no trouble with the portal he'd constructed.

"Well, I guess this is it then, ladies," Xander said, turning to look each of them in the eye. "I know we weren't a team for long but I'd like to think this past month made us into something better. I'd like to think it made us friends. I'd like to say see ya later but that's not likely to happen, so instead I'll just say 'safe journeys' no matter how corny it sounds."

This caused Patricia, Thena and Janet to chuckle with amusement but as she didn't know what 'corny' meant, she just grinned slightly.

"You're right. It does sound corny," Janet said as she walked forward and gave the young man a hug. "Doesn't mean we don't appreciate it. Keep yourself safe, Xan."

"No promises," Xander said with a smile that made it clear that safety wasn't a likely thing for him.

As Thena and Patricia said their goodbyes, she wondered if she should say anything or if she should simply remain silent. While Xander had made some attempts to interact with her, the upbringing of the Sisterhood made that difficult at best and impossible at worst. Nevertheless, she had never seen him commit an act that made him just like one of the men she'd fought and killed in her time and this always threw her off balance. For years she'd believed in one simple truth: men were evil barbarians and the world would be better off without them. Now… now she was beginning to wonder how absolute that one truth really was. She'd been exposed to men of all sorts since she arrived in this time period and it was beginning to make her doubt the truth the Sisterhood had taught her to believe.

She had a feeling that the doubts wouldn't be leaving her mind anytime soon.

"Xander? If you'd step into the scanning booth we can begin," Reed Richards said as the glass tube opened up.

"Sure thing, Doc," Xander said as he did as he was bid.

It didn't take more than five minutes for the scan to be completed and then came a light show she was somewhat familiar with since it was similar to what had carried her to where she was now. Energy gravitated towards the center like rain drops forming a sphere in center but, when it seemed to reach critical mass it suddenly expanded in all directions encompassing the entire interior of the portal. Unlike some of the stories she'd watched on the television, it didn't suddenly show the destination point or anything but rather remained a solid flat mass of white energy.

Xander looked like he was waiting for Richards to give him the go ahead and, when it was given, the son of Namor walked forward to return to the life Kang took from him.

Or at least that was how it was supposed to go.

However, the absolute moment that the young man touched the edge of the portal's energy field, destiny had its threads cut.

What happened next she could only recall in part but that was enough to change things for her forever.

#FLASH#

Xander seemingly generating an energy field around him a half second after the tip of his finger touched the event horizon of the portal.

#FLASH#

His screams of pain as the energy field turned to bolts of energy that were shooting out in four very specific directions.

#FLASH#

PAIN. Pain worse than anything she'd experienced before running through her body despite her best effort to evade the bolt that had been flying towards her.

#FLASH#

It seemed to last an eternity but at the same time it only lasted about a minute, but during that time she could vaguely perceive someone moving to separate Xander from the portal.

#FLASH#

Then there was a flare, a surge, that blocked out her senses and her ability to perceive things before it all simply slipped away like she was being taken someplace else.

She was not weak nor was she incapable of enduring pain but just the same she welcomed the relief from the suffering she was being put through. She knew when she awoke that things would be different for her. She didn't know how but pain like this always changed things in some way, shape or form.

She just hoped that she could live with the changes.

 _ **The Lab of Reed Richards, One Minute Later, Captain America's POV**_

"Well, this was unexpected," Tony said, clearly not having filtered what he was thinking before it became what he was saying.

The level of understatement was of Galactus proportions.

It had started out simply enough with the creation of Tony Stark and Reed Richards powering up to send the first of their 'guests' back to where Kang had snatched them up from. While they hadn't gotten off on the right foot, he'd come to know each of them and found them to be good people who would either become great heroes one day or already were. Xander had already promised that when he caught up to the present in six years he'd spin by Stark Tower to apply for a position in the Avengers. He had told the young man that when that day came he would be the first to support his entry onto the team and ended the discussion with a handshake. None of the others had made that statement but he figured that was mostly because they didn't believe that they'd return or, in Lyra's case, it was probably because the young woman came from a unique timeline that was completely different from this one. A world divided into two genders where children were birthed in a lab and womankind was probably years away from achieving victory in the war with the men. Even if she did arrive in four years, she still would need time to adjust to the differences between her culture and the one she'd be living in from then on.

However things had changed when, upon contact with the portal's event horizon, a chain reaction had started resulting in all five of the visitors being bombard by a high volume of energy bolts. He didn't know what their nature was but, judging from how all five of them had begun to cry out in serious pain, he knew he had to stop it somehow. Jessica, however, had reacted quicker than him and had gone to try to separate Xander from the portal, no doubt believing that it was the source of the phenomena. However the moment Spider-woman's hand made contact with the young man's arm she too became enveloped by the energy bolts, adding her screams to the others. Both Reed and Tony had worked like mad on the portal controls to stop what was happening but their efforts were useless.

The energy phenomena ended on its own, resulting in those affected collapsing to the ground unconscious but it was what was a little more obvious that had the attention of all those present.

With the exception of Xander all those present had undergone physical transformations that were immediately noticeable, but it left him wondering what the objective was. Janet Van Dyne, Thena, Lyra, Jessica Drew and presumably Patricia 'Pepper' Potts had all either aged or regressed in age until they all looked to be roughly the same age. In fact, unless he was very much mistaken, they all looked to be about the same age as Xander, eighteen years old, but whether that was by design or by accident he did not know. All he did know was that they had to ascertain the physical conditions of all of them before they even began trying to piece together what had happened.

"Check their vital signs!" he ordered, immediately taking charge of the situation. "Reed! Prep your infirmary! Once we're sure it's safe to move them we'll take them there."

"It'll be ready momentarily!" Reed said using his powers to leave the room quicker than any normal person could.

Kneeling at the one closest, the alternate Janet, he immediately checked her pulse and was relieved to find that it only a bit weaker than was normal. However before he could move onto the next one the various display screens arrayed throughout the room began to malfunction, either producing static or fragmenting the normal images that were usually displayed on them. With every passing moment it became more violent until it was replaced by something else that had both him and Tony on edge.

Kang the Conqueror.

"Hello, Captain, Iron Man," Kang said in a smug tone of voice. "I trust you enjoyed the light show."

"Kang, what did you—" he asked aggressively before being interrupted.

"Before you begin with your usual list of questions, let me just say that this is a pre-recorded message and not interactive," Kang said, never losing the arrogant smile. "So I suggest you be quiet and I promise I'll do my best to answer all your questions for you."

Grinding his teeth, the only thing that made him stay silent was the possibility that the warlord might actually say something that they could use to help those afflicted with the monster's little surprise.

"Now the first question you probably want answered is 'what did you do?'," Kang said before one of the view screens showed a mass of rock floating in some kind of limbo. "Well, the fact of the matter is that the parting shot I delivered to my five agents was designed to do more than merely neutralize them temporarily. It was designed to deliver a payload of fortieth century nanomachines into each of their bodies to begin a silent series of preliminary alterations to their bodies. Nothing that'd show up on any of your antiquated devices but enough to prepare them for what would come next and increase the odds that they would survive.

"I knew it would take you roughly a month for you to construct your crude device to return them home and that gave the nanomachines plenty of time to do their work. I also knew that you would likely have Alexander go through the portal first since sending someone back in time six years is relatively easy compared to finding a single alternate timeline out of trillions," The Conqueror said, never losing his arrogance. "That is why I made sure that his nanomachines received special programming in order to facilitate my primary objective. What was my primary objective, you ask? Why, the answer to that is simple: I have just attuned each and every one of them to your specific date and timeline. As a result it will be impossible for you to find their specific timeline or time period. As for Alexander, while you may already know when to send him, I would not recommend trying again when he wakes up since my nanomachines are programmed to disassemble him at a molecular level should he come into contact with the space between time periods again."

"Bastard!" Tony growled from within his armor.

"I can think of no more fitting a punishment for my five traitors then to forever part them all they know and care about. Xander will not see his friends as he knew them and will have to endure the consequences his absence produced thanks to his desire to be more than a mere human. Janet Van Dyne will never see her team again, nor be able to avert the disaster I promised to inform her of upon completion of her task," Kang said, looking particularly malicious as he spoke. "Thena will never see her parents, her friends or her homeland of Asgard again. Miss Potts will never see her friends or her father again and all she wanted was a more impressive suit of armor, along with an impressive adventure. The one that would likely be least hurt by my actions will likely be dear Lyra, but it's anyone's guess how she'll feel about being eighteen again."

He had seen some real evil in the time since he was first given the Super Soldier Serum, but this was the kind of evil that lingered long after the wound had been dealt. The five victims would have to live with it every day of their lives, from when they woke up in the morning until they went to bed at night, and recalling it would only revitalize the pain they would feel.

"As for why I altered the ladies to match Alexander's age, the simple answer is that the young man earned a small measure of respect from me. A simple human with no special abilities or powers managed to survive for three years fighting vampires and demons with naught but his determination and tenacity. As a result I decided I'd replace the friends he has lost with new ones that would serve him well," Kang stated in manner he couldn't decipher conclusively. "Also, if you check the nearest room with sufficient open space in it, you'll find Alexander's car and its contents completely unharmed. I even did as he asked and had it restored to the point where it might as well have just rolled off the assembly line. Oh, and I added a few 'features' he will no doubt need considering the sort of trouble he tends to get into. I think he'll be quite happy."

 _This could be a problem. If the young ladies found out about this, they might hold Xander responsible for their current situation,_ he thought as he tried to figure out a way to thwart such a possibility. _They deserve the opportunity to choose their futures without Kang's scheming ruining it for them._

At the same time, keeping this a secret from them would only complicate matters if the ladies learned the truth later on. They would have to tell them the whole truth and do their best to persuade the four young women that Xander wasn't to blame for their changes. The bonds that had already been forged between the five of them had only just formed but he hoped that their shared circumstances from here on out would only strengthen them rather than tear them apart.

"Finally I know that at least one of you tried to separate Alexander from the portal in an effort to stop the chain reaction, but who precisely that was turned out to be beyond my ability to predict. Was it you, dear Captain? Or perhaps you, Stark?" Kang asked, sounding quite amused. "In any case I leave you with one final piece of advice: contact the Sorcerer Supreme and tell him to free up his schedule for the next month or so. Alexander will need his help."

With those words the screens turned blank for a moment before the familiar script implying that the systems were rebooting themselves.

"Why do you think he wants Xander to meet with Doctor Strange for a month?" he asked Tony, who looked like half his mind was working on possible ways to thwart Kang's scheme.

"I don't know but I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough," Iron Man said before reaching down to pick up Spider-Woman. "In the meantime let's get these gals and guy to the infirmary. While it wouldn't make sense for Kang to sabotage his own scheme, I still want hard data before giving them a clean bill of health."

"Agreed," he said with a nod before picking up the now eighteen year old alternate Janet Van Dyne.

He just hoped that whatever business Xander would have with Stephen, that it wouldn't make matters any worse.

 _ **Six Hours Later, Baxter Building Infirmary, Ultimate Janet Van Dyne's POV**_

As the fog of sleep lifted from her mind, she could feel a mattress beneath her body and bed sheets on top, so she sluggishly thought that she had to be in her bed.

However as more of her brain cells woke up, she began to realize that the sheets weren't the ones she'd gotten used to in Stark Tower or the ones back home in her Tony Stark's mansion. It was only when she began to pick up the smells usually associated with hospitals that consciousness surged towards her.

Her eyes opened, showing her a tiled ceiling with the usual light fixtures, but as she began to look around she could tell that this was not your run of the mill hospital. High tech equipment jogged her memory as to where she last was before losing consciousness, so it took her less than a second to conclude that she was in the Baxter Building's infirmary. Then it all came back to her; Xander touching the edge of the portal, getting hit by bolts of energy, the PAIN and then losing consciousness after a period of time she couldn't measure. Without looking she tested her body and found that, aside from a bit of soreness usually attributed to one of Cap's workout sessions, she felt perfectly okay. Bringing her arms into her field of vision, she was surprised to find no electrical or energy burns whatsoever and that struck her as odd since usually with hits like the one that knocked her out would require bandages of some kind.

Still, she wasn't complaining.

Looking around to the rest of the room she saw Lyra, Thena, Pepper and Xander out cold in their own beds but something struck her as being… off with them. Looking at each one of them as closely as she could without getting out of bed, the feeling she was getting only intensified but she couldn't figure out what was causing her brain to itch.

Before she could think any more the sound of a door sliding open caught her attention and she turned to see Iron Man entering, his faceplate up.

"Good to see you're awake, Janet," he said with a smile as he walked over to her. "Reed said you all checked out but I have to admit I prefer seeing people wake up before I sign off stuff like that."

"Me too. What happened?" she asked, giving a polite smile before getting down to business.

Tony paused and, if this Tony was anything like the one from her world, then that only meant one thing: something bad had happened. Something VERY bad.

"Kang happened. He set up the whole thing," Tony said, looking angry and guilty at the same time. "Apparently when he zapped you five at the end before Iron Lad killed his last body, he was infusing your bodies with fortieth century nanomachines. Their purpose was twofold: to make it impossible for us to return you to your original timelines and… to change you physically into what he wanted."

"WHAT!?" she exclaimed as she instantly began to re-examine her body for changes.

"Easy, easy!" Tony said, putting his hands up in the 'don't shoot the messenger' position. "The physical changes aren't harmful or evil from what we can tell. You might even like it."

"What did he do to us?" she asked with a glare that warned against beating around the bush.

"Basically? He made you, Lyra, Thena and Patricia eighteen years old, physically," Tony replied, deciding to take the band-aid route. "According to the recording he somehow downloaded into the lab's systems, he… he did it to replace the old friends Xander no longer had."

"What're you talking about?" she asked, still unable to piece everything together.

"For you and the other girls Kang just adjusted the quantum frequencies of your bodies to be a complete match for this timeline/dimension. But in Xander's case, the kid can't ever go home," Iron Man replied, sounding genuinely sorry. "If he comes into contact with the space in between time periods, Kang's nanomachines will rip him apart from the molecules on up. So, as a kind of… compensation, you were all physically made eighteen again to make up for the friends Xander wouldn't be able to return to. That plus the kid's car got put on the Baxter Building's roof fully restored and stocked."

"Why would Kang do this? I mean, I know what you said but that's nothing like how he acted when we fought," she said as the picture of her current situation became clearer.

"Apparently Xander was once just your average guy but he still fought the good fight against demons and vampires. That impressed Kang and so this 'gift' is a show of appreciation," Tony explained with a slight shrug. "Go figure."

For the next few minutes nothing was said and for that she was thankful because at the moment she had too much going on inside her mind to piece together something coherent to say. She was eighteen again and, looking down at her body, she could see how it now matched her memories of what it'd been like back in college. Looking at the other girls, she could see similar changes and that pretty much resolved the itch in the back of her head. For some like Thena and Lyra, the changes were noticeable since they'd been somewhere between Xander's age and her age before Kang's bug zapper surprise. However for Pepper you could only see the changes if you really looked because otherwise she pretty much looked like she always did around their floor in Stark Tower.

Indeed, from the looks side of things, she doubted that'd be the hardest thing for the others to get over once they woke up.

The hard thing to get over would be never being able to go home again.

She wasn't an expert in the field of alternate timelines or dimensions but she'd picked up enough to know that there was pretty close to trillions that existed outside of the one she was currently in. The further out from this one you went, the more distorted or different the reality/timeline you came across became until it'd be impossible to recognize anything in it. The odds of being able to find the specific reality/timeline that each of them came from were so bad she'd have better luck winning the lottery. They could probably travel the multiverse until they were all old ladies and never find their homes. Pepper and Thena would probably take it the hardest since they had friends as well as family that they loved with all their hearts back home. She wouldn't be completely unaffected either, especially since there'd be so many reminders of home all around her. There were differences but there were also similarities when she looked at this dimension's Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Seeing people who were so much like the ones she knew but knowing that they weren't would put her completely off balance for months at the very least.

"I suppose you've already thought up ways to cushion the blow or give us a helping hand?" she asked, wanting to move things along as well as get some answers.

"Well, when we looked through Xander's car to make sure Kang hadn't left any more surprises, we found a bag with quite a bit of cash inside. Tracing the numbers on the bills, we managed to confirm that they weren't stolen or missing from any bank," Tony replied with a grin that showed he knew where she was going with it all. "About a hundred thousand dollars in total. I'll triple it so you'll each have a starter fund to do whatever you want after coping with all this."

 _Three hundred thousand split five ways equals sixty thousand dollars each,_ she thought, doing some quick math in her head. _Not bad and as long as molecular biology in this timeline isn't all that different from how it is in mine, and then there shouldn't be a problem finding a job._

Pepper might need to take a few tests to make sure she had the equivalent of a high school education in her mind, but she'd tutor the girl if she had to. It'd probably be Lyra and Thena who'd have the hardest time trying to get a job since their cultures were so different from contemporary society. Aside from superheroing, there weren't many job options for Viking warrior women or feminist warriors from the future, so they'd be at a loss for a good long while trying to fit in.

Still they'd have their teammates to help them out because, even with all that's happened, she still had that sort of connection to them and she was sure the others felt the same way.

"I don't look forward to finding out how the others are gonna react but we'll work through it," she said, resolve forming within her. "We're teammates, after all, and that's what teammates do, isn't it? Help each other out?"

"Damn right," Tony said with a nod of approval.

She just hoped they could all get through the next few weeks in one piece because it would be in the days immediately after hearing the bad news that she knew her friends would be at their worst.

 _ **Two Hours Later, Xander's POV**_

"Can… can you repeat that?" he asked, feeling lightheaded and praying that he'd heard Captain America wrong.

"Kang left a surprise in you with his parting shot in limbo. If you try to travel through time, you'll be killed instantly," Steve replied with both honesty and genuine sympathy. "It's his final punishment for betraying him."

Even while denial surged up within him, the rational part of his mind was quick to put together the pieces and realize the full implications of what he'd been told. If he could no longer travel through time without being killed instantly, then he could never return to the date he left to resume his old life with his friends. He could only live from this point onward. That meant for six years the Scoobies had been without him, fighting the supernatural and demonic on the Hellmouth, thinking him either dead or that he'd abandoned them. Who knew what had happened since then, what horrors they'd face, without him and… and who knew if any of them had fallen because he hadn't been there to save them.

Fear, guilt and desperation surged within him, causing him to throw off his covers, allowing him to get out of the bed.

"Xander? Where do you think you're going?" Cap asked with concern in his voice.

"The place I never should've left to begin with," he replied before running out the door as fast as his feet could carry him.

He said a small prayer of thanks that neither Tony or Cap or anyone else had removed his superhero uniform because it'd have been very embarrassing to go anywhere in one of those hospital gowns. He could hear Steve running behind him and, while he didn't know if the man could catch up, he didn't care. The only thing in his mind at the moment was to get to Sunnydale pronto and hope that when he arrived the fears that fueled him would prove pointless.

As soon as he spotted a window he went airborne, pointing his fists forward and accelerating as much as he dared with every passing half second. With a crash of shattering glass he broke through the window and, once outside, ascended to an altitude high over the city before taking a moment to orient himself. It was night outside so he didn't have the good fortune of the sun to let him know which way was east, but thankfully his nights of sleeping outside to avoid his family had given him a healthy interest in astronomy. Picking out the North Star and knowing that he was on the east coast, he quickly ascertained which way was west and flew towards home.

FAST.

He didn't know how fast and he didn't particularly care because at the moment he just wanted to get home as quickly as he was able to. He kept pushing his body to go as fast as he could make it go in order to cross the distance as quickly as possible. For the first couple of minutes it was hard to navigate but eventually he was able to see and he realized that he was crossing time zones and in California it was still late afternoon. Eager to reach that glorious sunlight, he kept pushing himself and, when things got light enough that he could make out more details of the ground beneath him, he began looking for recognizable landmarks.

Yeah, he sucked at geography, but he'd spent enough time preparing for his road trip to make out the big things as well as the names of a few towns and cities.

Using them he eventually managed to reach his home state and from there it was all too easy to follow the familiar highway from Oxnard, to where his mind told him Sunnydale would be.

Instead what he found was a large, gaping crater in the ground.

Almost on autopilot he landed at the edge of the expanse that used to be the city limits of Sunnydale and only peripherally was he aware that his legs weren't supporting him. Instead he dropped to his knees, staring in shock at the remains of what'd been his whole world for eighteen long years and wondered what the hell had happened. Never in the entire three years he'd fought alongside Buffy and the others had they ever faced anything capable of decimating the entire town. Sure, there was the threat of the Hellmouth opening up and releasing the hordes of a hell dimension but that never really felt real. The thing had never really existed in his mind as a threat the same way a vampire or the demon of the week did and he knew that with the gang keeping tabs on things they'd never let it open.

So what happened to his home?

He must've looked like a zombie as he looked about the area, trying to find something, ANYTHING, that'd answer his questions and give him some idea of what to do next. When he could see nothing of consequence from where he knelt, he stiffly got to his feet and began to walk around the edge of the crater to get a closer look at everything. When that failed he descended into the crater itself, hoping that something there would tell him what he wanted to know. It was hard to make anything out with all the debris mixed together along with the dirt and the rocks but he could still make out a few things. Signs from places he used to go to with the gang, a tree with someone's initials carved into it and gravestones by the hundreds that reminded him of just how many cemeteries Sunnyhell had. He sifted through some of the rubble, picking pieces up before flinging them over his shoulder, trying to find at least some of what he sought.

He should've known better.

Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.

Two broken headstones lay propped up against a boulder, almost as though someone had placed them there specifically for him to find. The first was broken diagonally from upper right to bottom left but he could still make out the first and middle name that was written on it.

BUFFY ANNE

1981-20

BELOVED

DEVO

SHE SAVED

The one next to it was no less painful and it made him believe that getting impaled by a blade fresh from a swordsmith's forge fire would've been less painful. This one only had the name at the top and the year of birth readable but that only made it worse for him.

JOYCE KRISTINE SUMMERS

1955

Two people.

Two people who'd made his life more than he'd thought it ever could be.

DEAD!

As though only a dam made of paper had been keeping them at bay, the emotions that had turned his insides into foamy rapids surged forth, robbing him of thought. All that existed in him were three basic emotions but at the moment they possessed strength enough to crack the planet in two as far as he was concerned.

PAIN!

GRIEF!

SORROW!

All he had wanted was to get what he needed to stay a part of the Scoobies so they wouldn't push him away. They were his chosen family, his friends, who had helped him believe that he could be more than the son of the town drunks. He'd damn himself to the deepest pits of hell if it'd secure their future good health and happiness.

Now… now the girl who'd been his hero and the woman who'd been more of a mother to him than his own were dead and HE HADN'T BEEN THERE!

Bellows filled with anguish erupted from his lips as tears of sorrow flowed freely from his eyes and, even when he could not do either anymore, he could not find the strength to move from his kneeling position.

He no longer cared what happened to himself or others from there on out.

He was done.

 _ **Stark Tower, Twenty Minutes Prior, Patricia 'Pepper' Potts' POV**_

CCRRRAAAASSSHHH!

"Mmmmm… would you keep'it down?" she mumbled as the loud noise roused her from her sleep. "Somuv'us are tryin' to sleep."

She tried to roll over after that because she was still feeling more than a little bushed and had been having a real pleasant dream involving a certain guy she had her eye on but her inner curiosity was gaining strength with every passing second. She was naturally inquisitive and once something got her hooked, she just couldn't leave her alone until she was satisfied. So, as much as she wanted to go back to sleep, she need to know what had caused that noise and so, with an annoyed look, she opened her eyes.

Looking about she could tell that she was in a high tech hospital room of some kind with stuff that Tony had either made or would have a serious geekgasm over. For a moment she wondered where she was but, when she saw the faces of the people on the other beds, it all came back to her. Got asked for help cross-dressing villain. Switched sides. Spent a month with stitches. Was about to go home… a freaky light show decided it wanted to use her body as a torture tuning fork. Then… nothing until just now and, considering where she wound up, she figured it was safe to say something bad happened.

Looking about she saw that Thena, Lyra and Janet had been stirred into wakefulness just like she had but there was one bed that looked like someone had gotten out of it in a hurry. Considering who else was there, she presumed that the empty bed had been where Xander had been laying but that left one question in her mind.

"Where's Xander?" she asked, sitting up and looking at each person in the room for an answer.

Her answer didn't come the way she wanted it to.

Instead of one of her new friends stepping forward and telling her she heard the sound of booted feet running past the entrance to the room and a voice.

"Prep the Quinjet, Iron Man!" Captain America yelled, indicating that he was the one running by the infirmary. "We have to get to him before he does something he'll regret!"

At once the four of them looked at each other and pieced together the basic truth of the situation: Xander had gone somewhere and Steve thought he was going to do something bad. Without even thinking about it she tore off the suction cup thingies that connected her to the monitoring machines, threw the covers off of her and moved to follow the guy wrapped in the American flag. She peripherally knew that she was still wearing the full body suit that Adult Tony said would work best with her new and improved armor. Normally she'd be a bit self-conscious, considering how skin tight it was, but at the moment all she cared about was finding out what was going on and how she could help.

As soon as she was out the door she spotted the boot of Captain America going around a corner to her left and she ran off in pursuit. Sure, she wasn't a track and field star but when your friend owns a high tech suit of armor and gets himself into trouble pretty often, you learn to move quickly. It wasn't long before they reached a hanger of some kind with a really old, like the fifties, car parked in the corner and a cutting edge jet in the middle. She knew if she didn't speak now then they'd all be left behind while Rogers and Stark went off to stop Xander from doing something stupid.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" she asked at the top of her lungs, relying on volume to get the flag man's attention.

THIS stopped Steve in his tracks and caused him to turn around but she could tell right from the look on his face what he was going to say.

"Don't even think about keeping us out of this!" she declared in a tone that even made her father back up a step. "If Xander's going to do something stupid then we're the ones to get him to stop!"

"So say we all!" Thena said, lending her support to the statement.

For a moment it looked like Captain America might argue with them further but instead he did something she wasn't expecting.

"Get on, then!" he ordered before resuming his run for the open hatch of the Quinjet.

It didn't take them long to all get on but there was someone waiting inside that immediately snagged her attention and had her wondering just what had happened while she'd been unconscious. Sitting in one of the chairs in an outfit that seemed a size or two too big for her was Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, and she looked like she was seriously rattled. Considering something had happened to shrink her or de-age her or something, she could understand that but it also just added another question to her growing list. Even as everyone took their seats, buckled up and felt the aircraft begin to take off, she really wanted her curiosity satisfied but she decided to wait until Rogers chose to spill the beans.

The fact that she lasted a whole fifteen minutes should be commended.

"What's going on, Cap?" she asked as the engines finished reaching maximum output.

"As you all know things didn't go as planned in Reed's lab. Kang had a surprise waiting for us that we didn't see coming," he replied, not turning his head. "When I laid out the details to Xander… he didn't take it well. He took off and we've got to catch up to him before he does something he won't be able to take back."

"What surprise?" she asked, having a feeling that this was the important part.

From there the leader of the Avengers laid it all out for them from beginning to end and for the first time in her entire memory she was left without anything to say. Kang had taken her world from her, her life, and aged her body three years out of some sort of twisted respect for what Xander managed to do without any powers at all. She felt like she was going to break down any second and cry for all that had been lost but before she could do that a hand came down on her shoulder, causing her to turn to look out of reflex if nothing else.

"Stay strong, Patricia," Thena said with a look of resolve on her face. "Kang may have robbed us of one path home but there are others. We will find one. We will use it. We WILL return to our loved ones."

"It'll take time, Patricia. I won't lie to you about that," Steve said, turning his head to look at her for a moment before focusing back on piloting the aircraft, "but I promise that the Avengers will look into every option, every resource, at our disposal. We will do our very best to find a way to get you home."

"Then it will happen," Thena said with a look of confidence. "In all of the tales father told me of his adventures as an Avenger, one thing that remained constant was his faith in Captain America. Have faith in him."

While she wasn't okay and she didn't think she would be for at least a week, her emotions did settle a bit and so she tried to think of something, ANYTHING, else to distract her until then.

"So if Kang made it so we can't go home and made us older or younger, what'd he do to Xander?" she asked, deciding that it'd be best to be prepared for what they might find when they got to where they were going.

"Physically he's the same. No changes there," Steve replied as the Quinjet flew onwards. "But… Kang's arranged it so that he can't travel through time. Ever. If he even tries he'll be destroyed. Reed and Tony ran tests to confirm this the same time they checked your quantum frequencies. Every time they brought tachyon particles to within two feet of him their equipment registered a significant drop in molecular stability. Since tachyon particles are a crucial part of any time travel method known to man, it means he can't go back to the date Kang plucked him from. For some this wouldn't be a problem but for Xander…"

Captain America seemed to pause and consider what he said next but eventually he reached a decision.

"Xander's home town is Sunnydale, California. He told Tony about it about three weeks ago while they were chatting," Steve said, sounding more serious than she could ever recall him being. "We both thought that getting you home would be a piece of cake and that everything would be okay. So Tony said that with six years of growth on him Xander would be old enough that we could consider asking him to join the Avengers. We ran a search on Sunnydale since we'd never been there ourselves before and we… found out some things that bothered us.

"The biggest and most recent thing we found out was that about two years ago the entire town, for reasons unknown, turned into a giant sinkhole. The Avengers had been off on a mission so we didn't find out about it until we got back and by then government relief teams already had the situation well in hand. Officially the story is that there had been a network of tunnels beneath the town and an isolated seismic disturbance destabilized the whole thing, bringing it crashing down," Steve explained while adjusting something on the Quinjet's control console. "Iron Man's armor picked up lingering energy traces in the crater that made both of us skeptical of the 'official story', though, so we started digging for the truth. The more we learned, the more we discovered that the town was far from the sleepy town we thought it'd been. Forty-three churches, twelve cemeteries and more 'missing' persons per year than cities four times its size was just what we found out in the first three days.

"It wasn't until we checked with Nick Fury and Doctor Strange that we got the pieces we needed. Turns out the town was founded a little over a hundred years ago by Richard Wilkins the First but before that it was called Boca Del Inferno, which roughly translates to 'Mouth of Hell'. Wilkins had founded his town atop a weak spot between this dimension and a hell dimension, turning Sunnydale into a supernatural and demonic hotspot," Cap said, continuing the telling of his tale. "Figuring something was up, we dug more into Wilkins the First, figuring there had to be a reason behind his choice of location. Turned out he wanted to turn himself into a full demon and planned on using the population of Sunnydale to seal the deal. He was stopped but not by anyone we know or the government. He was stopped by a group of people who for three years fought monsters to keep the townspeople safe. Xander was a member of that group."

This surprised her a little but not much.

During the last four weeks with Xander always being around, she always got the sense that he was a fighter and that he wouldn't back down from anyone or anything that threatened the things he cared about. When they'd fought Cap, Iron Man and the others, he acted like he'd been through all this before even though he'd told them that before Kang he hadn't had any powers.

Now they knew why.

"For three years he fought alongside a mystically chosen warrior known as the Slayer, alongside his best friend and an agent of an organization the specialized in dealing with supernatural and demonic threats. According to Doctor Strange they did a respectable job keeping a lid on things there and even stopped an Ascension and that, I'm told, is a pretty impressive feat. Right after that, though, Kang took Xander and… it all fell apart," Rogers said in a way that let her know she wouldn't like what came next. "Fury told us about a covert project set up under UC Sunnydale called 'The Initiative' that was tasked with studying demons, both to devise more scientific ways of dealing with them and to see if there were any… resources to be harvested. While I don't have all the details, things went wrong when a special project of the Initiative's director went AWOL and began killing. It was some kind of human-demon hybrid with cybernetics thrown in that were supposed to allow them to program it and, once it broke free, it wanted to make more of itself.

"It took a while but it orchestrated a scenario where the Initiative's holding cells were filled to capacity and then the prisoners were let loose on the project personnel. Xander's friends learned of the plan and moved to counter it and, while they succeeded, the cost was great. The Slayer and the agent died while his best friend's legs were so badly crushed by falling debris that they had to be amputated from the knees down," Cap said, empathy in every word he spoke. "A new Slayer and agent were dispatched to Sunnydale to keep an eye on things but Xander's best friend moved to Los Angeles. Three years later the town was destroyed when the underground tunnel network collapsed, though Doctor Strange said he sensed a sizeable dimensional disturbance in or near Sunnydale, indicating something supernatural might have destroyed it.

"Xander doesn't know any of this but he does know that his friends have been without him for six years in a place where there's always something stalking the night or trying to bring about hell on Earth. I imagine that's why he left in such a hurry: he's hoping that they didn't get hurt or die because he wasn't there." Steve said, ending his long explanation. "I don't know what he's going to find when he gets there but I doubt it'll be good. I just hope we get there before he does anything that can't be undone."

"He'll be okay," she said with as much conviction as she could. "He'll be hit hard but he'll pull through and we'll be there to help."

"You bet your ass we will!" Janet declared with fire and confidence.

They might have been using Xander's predicament to distract them from their own individual situations but that didn't mean their desire to help him was any less genuine.

He was their friend.

He was their leader.

 _ **A Little Over Two and a Half Hours Later, Thena's POV**_

 _Surtur's FLAMES! 'Tis about time we arrived at our destination!_ she thought as she sensed the Quinjet descending. _Were it not for the fact that I am not yet skilled enough with Mjolnir to teleport, we could have crossed the distance in the blink of an eye!_

Sadly she had not had an opportunity to practice and had chosen to wait until she was with her father again so he could instruct her in her new hammer's use. Now… now she wished she had taken the time to practice because, barring a miracle, it was unlikely that she would see him or the Golden Realm anytime soon. She was not lying to Patricia earlier when she said she had faith that Captain America and the Avengers would find another means by which they might return to their respective timelines. Growing up the tales of the Avengers were evenly mixed with the more typical bedtime stories of her people so, while she knew they'd been exaggerated in some areas, the basic truths were still there. The Avengers were Midgard's mightiest mortals and Captain America was a warrior beyond reproach, capable of combating both mortal and god alike given enough time to prepare. If he said they would do all they could to return the five of them to where they belonged, she would wait patiently for that day to inevitably come.

The moment the hatch of the aircraft opened into a set of stairs she was out of her seat and moving to find Xander so that she could be sure of his wellbeing.

In the month that the five of them had lived together they had become good friends and through her sparring sessions with Xander she found a brother-in-arms as worthy as any she knew in Asgard. She'd started out with a clear advantage over him in hand-to-hand combat but with every match she could almost see him learning what to do and doing it well soon after. It was what made the struggle so satisfying to her because every time they fought she had to push herself that much more to emerge victorious. In their latest contest of skill he'd managed to fight her to a stalemate right until the last minutes when she managed to trick him into exposing his lower left side. From there she'd simply built on the opening until he was on the ground, groaning his surrender and remarking about how her final blow was going to 'leave a mark'. Ridiculous, of course, since both of their bodies were resilient enough that any bruising would be gone quickly enough and even then it'd take more than the level of strength they'd been using to do any long term harm.

After hearing Captain America's story of what Kang had done to her friend and what had happened to the town of Sunnydale in his six year absence… he would need them more than ever.

Looking at the crater that was once Sunnydale for the first time she was instantly reminded of the time when she'd first beheld mighty Asgard after Galactus' assault. It had broken her heart to see her home reduced to so much rubble. It had been a place of history, of proud tradition and it had been where she had grown up for as long as she could remember. Unlike Xander, though, she had been fortunate enough that almost all of the golden city's residents had been evacuated in time and, while injured, the warriors who'd fought against the Devourer of Worlds had mostly survived. There had been a few deaths, against such a force it was inevitable, but for the most part all those whom she cared for had survived.

Even though she was now separated from them across the gulf of dimensions she had faith that she'd see them again.

For Xander, though, seeing all this, he would no doubt believe the worst case scenario and that would hurt him more than anything a physical injury could do. He took the lives of his friends very seriously and the longer he had them, the more he'd be willing to do to keep them safe and happy, or at least that was her impression of him. It wouldn't matter if all of his friends walked up to him now alive and well because the warrior would still blame himself for not being there for them.

It was one of the reasons why she did not wish to be the one to tell him about the fate of three of his closest friends and comrades. The two who were dead would be bad enough but to know that his oldest friend had lost her legs yet still lived… t'would take a dozen strikes from her hammer to dislodge the guilt from his heart.

As the group spread out they looked everywhere for their friend but found nothing along the edges of the crater but bits of debris and vegetation. Before they could look into the crater itself, though, a form rose into the air from within it and even in the darkness she could recognize it as Xander by the wings on his feet as well as the points of his ears. It was when he got close enough to the Quinjet's exterior lights, though, that she could see his face and the sorrow carved into it as firmly as chiseled stone. Her heart surprised her as it ached to see him so overcome with grief and, as he touched down just a few feet from the group, she searched her mind for the right thing to say.

In the end she decided that actions spoke louder than words.

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

He acted shocked for a moment but then returned the hug and she felt oddly touched that he was willing to accept her comfort. The hug only lasted for half a minute or so but when they parted she believed that the burden of sorrow had been lightened, if only by a little bit.

"Cap told us everything," Janet said stepping forward. "I'm so sorry, Xander."

"Thanks, Jan," Xander said, even though he was unable to put forth even a fake smile, even if she could tell he still tried.

"While I can't do anything about Sunnydale, Miss Summers and Mister Giles, Xander, I can at least give you this," Steve said, holding out a piece of paper. "I researched it on the trip over. It's the current address of one Willow Rosenberg."

Xander started to reach out for it but he froze for a moment, almost as if mired with indecision, before finally taking the piece of paper. Tucking it into one of the hidden pockets in his uniform she could only presume that he intended to get reacquainted with his friend later rather than immediately. A good idea in her opinion since it'd be better for him to recover from the shock of the bad news before he walked up to another potentially emotional encounter.

They all needed time to come to grips with Kang's parting shot and decide how they were going to live their lives from now until the day when the Avengers or one of their allies found them a way home. Alone that would've been difficult, overwhelming in the short term, but with each other to lean on for support she was confident they'd manage well enough. They'd just have to take it one day at a time and hope that the Norns were kind to them as they waited.

"I'll… I'll check it out later," Xander said, trying to sound like his old self. "Let's just get back home. We've all got a lot of thinking to do and I don't think the edge of a big ass crater is the place to do it."

With that the whole group got back onto the Quinjet, took their seats and within seconds they were on their way back to the east coast and Stark Tower.

 _ **A Couple of Days Later, Stark Tower, Living Room, Xander's POV**_

"What the hell do these kids think they're doing?" Steve growled, sounding quite put out by the front page of the newspaper.

He didn't need to ask for the newspaper because he'd already skimmed through it half an hour earlier, so he knew what had the man upset. It was the fact that the teenage group of heroes known as the 'Young Avengers' were back in action, despite having been told to give up the crime fighting a little over a month ago. He'd been there and he'd gotten the basic gist of it all from the bits and pieces he'd overheard, which basically could be summed up with the statement 'you are too young for this work'. Cap had ordered the teenagers to hand over their gear and to never put on their costumes ever again or else the Avengers would tell their parents the whole story. The leader of the Avengers had apparently thought that that'd be enough to end the issue but the man obviously didn't have much experience with modern teenagers.

Give them an ultimatum and they'll rebel out of spite alone.

"Making the Shocker look like an idiot," Pete replied honestly but with a smile on his face.

"The Shocker's one of yours, isn't he?" Luke asked after taking a sip of coffee.

"Used to be. But I'm an Avenger now, Luke," Parker replied, turning to face his teammate. "I've got Ultron and Galactus and Kang the Conqueror to worry about, so—"

"You don't have to worry about Kang. The kids killed him," Luke said, pointing out the error in the web head's statement.

"They did not," Spider-man said in denial of the villain's death.

"Ask Cap," Luke suggested, not discouraged in his position.

"The Young Avengers killed Kang the Conqueror?" Peter asked, looking over his shoulder at the spangled hero.

"It's a long story," Steve replied, not giving up any of the details.

"Is it a good one?" Parker asked, not wanting to give up just yet.

"It involves time travel," Rogers replied, indicating a complicated tale.

"'Nuff said," Spider-man said, clearly not wanting to touch that headache in the making.

"And it's just one of the reasons I told the kids that if they ever put their uniforms on again, I'd shut them down," Cap said, sounding like he was perfectly willing to carry out that threat.

"I guess that explains their NEW uniforms," Spidey said, pointing out a loophole in the ultimatum.

"Is Patriot's new? The mask is new," Luke said after the web head used the table's holo-generator to put up an image of the front page.

"You know his name?" Parker asked with a bit of surprise.

"You think there are so many BLACK super heroes running around that I can't remember their names?" Luke asked rhetorically as he pointed out a valid fact.

"Well, there's about to be one less," Cap said, making it clear what he'd be doing the rest of the day.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Power Man said, showing in his tone that he didn't approve of what his leader was about to do.

"The kid is sixteen," Steve stated, as though that was all that needed to be said.

"So? I was a kid when I started, and I turned out okay. Arguably," Pete said, putting himself forward in a half-assed manner as an example. "Right?"

"What if we trained them?" Luke asked, sounding like he might be willing to donate some of his time to the matter.

"They're minors," Rogers stated, once again bringing up the age thing.

It was getting more than a little annoying because, as far as he was concerned, evil didn't care if you were a baby or a grown man; it'd still have its way with you regardless. The only way to stop that was to take a stand and be willing to fight against it. Now he wasn't saying that everyone should slap on a costume and start fighting crime but, if the Young Avengers can handle fighting Kang and managed to take down The Shocker, then they weren't complete amateurs. They had some skill and some smarts, plus some of them had super powers, so as long as the Young Avengers didn't take on more than they could handle they'd be fine.

"So? We obviously can't stop them," Luke said, not seeing what more the seasoned heroes could do.

"Maybe not. But their parents can," Cap said as he picked up the phone and began dialing.

Dirty pool.

"Cap, 'cmon! You're not actually calling their parents, are you?" Spidey asked, sounding like he considered it to be foul play too.

"First I'm calling for backup," Steve replied as he put the phone to his ear. "If the kids killed Kang the Conqueror, can you imagine what their parents must be like?"

"Big mistake," he said before he'd properly thought things through. "You're making assumptions, Cap, and that's never smart."

This, of course, caused everyone in the room to look at him for elaboration.

 _Well, I've already stuck my foot in it so I might as well go the rest of the way._ "First of all it was Iron Lad who killed Kang, not the Young Avengers. I was there and I saw it happen. Even if one of the Young Avengers did kill him, though, what choice did they have? They were going up against a guy that single handedly managed to hold off five experienced Avengers! If you don't take kill shots against someone like that, you're as good as dead."

"Kids like that have no business killing PERIOD." Rogers said, turning to glare at him.

"I KNOW! It's not like I'm saying that they should start packing automatics and grenades and start carving notches in their belts for every kill, but sometimes there's no other choice," he said, not backing down no matter how famous Cap was. "Besides, if I'd followed the orders you gave the Young Avengers, we'd all probably be in hell right now because Buffy would've died her first week in Sunnydale if I hadn't been there to help. Hell, at the end of her first school year she'd have drowned to death if I hadn't defied orders AND a prophecy to go after her into the Master's lair! Like it or not, Steve, following the orders of your superiors isn't always the right thing to do."

"They don't know how dangerous it is!" Cap snapped, clearly not happy at being opposed. "This isn't a game!"

"I KNOW IT'S NOT A GAME!" he yelled as his temper spiked, standing. "I lived on the mouth of hell all my life! My high school newspaper had an obituary page! I fought against things that'd make mincemeat out of ordinary people! I know how dangerous it is!"

"Then you should know that if they keep doing this they're going to wind up dead." Steve growled back putting the phone down on the nearby table.

"We all die eventually, Steve. The only question being if it's for something or nothing," he said, changing to his indoor voice. "These kids obviously care a lot about what they're doing or they would've been scared off by your ultimatum and the whole fight with Kang. Even if you tell their parents and their parents choose to ground them, they'll still likely continue fighting the good fight just to assert their own free will. I know that Buffy's mom told her to stop being the Slayer but she chose to fight anyway because if she didn't, a whole lot of people would die. It's the same thing with the Young Avengers: if they stop fighting then the people they would have otherwise saved will die."

For a moment silence was all that existed between the two of them and so he decided he might as well get the last word in and then split before Steve managed to make a comeback.

"As for the parent thing, you're assuming that anyone who has a kid who's willing to kill when necessary is evil or unworthy," he said with steel in his voice. "You're also assuming that the Young Avengers wouldn't come to the conclusion that lethal force is sometimes necessary on their own regardless of how they were raised. Just because people don't conform to your ideas of right and wrong that doesn't make their points of view any less valid. 'Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' are words I thought you understood. I think I might be mistaken."

With that he strode out of the room before anyone or anything could stop him, all the while keeping his temper in the front of his mind in order to keep himself from freaking at the fact that he just told off CAPTAIN FREAKING AMERICA. It wasn't until he was back in his room, where no one but him could see, that he finally let the freaking out begin.

 _They're gonna kick me out of this place!_ He began to pace. _I'm going to be dropped on my ass, on the curb, with nowhere to go!_

Sure, he had money, so he'd be able to get a room at a hotel, but it'd take time to find an apartment that was both satisfactory and affordable. It was possible that they might agree to let him stay in the Tower just until he'd secured some place to live but, depending on how miffed Steve was, he wasn't going to bank on it. The only thing really in his favor was the fact that he'd had sense enough not to buy a lot of things while he was waiting for the portal to be made. Just a few knick-nacks and a bag to carry them all in.

Then an idea came to him that was at least somewhat feasible and it'd solve his temporary lodgings issue while at the same time cementing his opposition to Cap trying to shut down the Young Avengers. He'd seen all five of them and overheard enough that he was pretty sure the lady archer was reasonably well off as well as likely responsible for the new costumes shown in the Bugle's picture. Maybe she'd be willing to let him stay in her family's city apartment or condo or something.

Yeah, that was a stretch if he ever heard one.

Still, he had nothing better to do today and the Young Avengers deserved someone in their corner when the Flag Man came calling. Thus, without further ado, he grabbed the essentials for a day on the town and hopefully helping out some fellow teens who wanted to fight the good fight. A minute later he was out the door and heading for the elevator to take him to the roof so he could get in the air and hopefully find one of the Young Avengers before Cap could contact the parents. With a little forewarning there was a chance they could intercept the phone call or the visit and keep their secret just a little while longer.

Long enough to convince Steve Rogers that they weren't the corpses in the making he seemed to think they were.

No superhero ever started out knowing it all and everyone had to start somewhere.

Also, in lieu of actual training, experience was the only teacher some people had.

 _ **New York City, The Meat Packing District, Afternoon, Kate Bishop's POV**_

"My MOM is not the problem," Cassie ranted as they walked down the sidewalk. "The problem is my STEP-DAD: 'Cassie couldn't possibly be a super hero. She's too spoiled and stupid and selfish'."

"He said that?" she asked, showing her own doubt in that area.

"No, but I must be, because I know how my mom feels about super heroes, and here I am trying to BE one!" Cassie replied, apparently unaware that she'd grown more than a few sizes.

"Cass, calm down," she whispered while covertly checking to see if anyone had noticed. "You're kinda GROWING."

"What am I gonna DO, Kate? If my mom finds out, it'll kill her, and then my step-father'll kill me." Cassie said, ignoring the warning or at least having a hard time calming down.

"We'll talk to the boys and figure it out, I promise," she said as she spotted Teddy and Billy walking across the street to meet them. "Look, see? There they are."

"They're lucky. No matter what happens, at least they have each other." Cassie said wistfully before smirking. "And you have Eli."

This caused her to look away from her friend just a little too quickly to hide her reaction to the rather ridiculous statement about her relationship, or lack thereof, with Patriot.

"What?!" she asked as though it was the most moronic thing the blonde could say.

"I'm just saying…" Cassie replied, clearly enjoying the implications.

"I do NOT have Eli. All we do is fight," she said, pointing out the one glaring sign that they in no way liked each other like that.

"Gee, why do you think THAT is?" Cassie asked in a probably rhetoric manner.

Fortunately she was saved from any more mind games by Billy and Teddy getting close enough for conversation without yelling for all to hear.

She was SO going to get Cassie for this.

As soon as Stature started looking at a guy a little too much, she was going to tease the girl like there was no tomorrow.

"You come out to your folks yet?" Teddy asked as they stood next to a restaurant.

"Almost. You?" she asked, wondering if at least one of them had gotten out of Capt's crosshairs.

"Nope. But Billy did," Teddy said with a smile on his face.

"You did?" she asked, wondering how that little talk turned out.

"Yeah… just not in the way I intended to," Billy said, sounding like something unusual had happened.

"Uh-oh…" she said, not liking where this was looking to go.

"The good news is my parents think Teddy's the perfect son-in-law," Billy said, sounding a little happier about the development then before.

"That's amazing," Cassie stated, clearly being in favor of the news.

"The bad news is that Captain America's gonna show up and tell them that he's also a shape-shifter," Billy said, dropping the other troublesome shoe.

"And that their son is a practicing witch," Teddy said, adding in his two cents.

"Warlock," Billy corrected with a frown.

"Whatever," Teddy said, no bothered by semantics or trivial differences.

"I say we go to Avengers Tower and head Cap off at the pass BEFORE he can get to our parents," she said, not liking the metaphorical dagger hanging over each of them.

Better to act then react in her opinion.

"And say what?" Billy asked, noticing the one loose end in her plan.

"We'll think of something," she said, not wanting to be discouraged by lack of a well thought out plan.

"And if we don't, you can zap him. Let's go," Teddy said, showing that it took quite a bit to get him worried.

"You guys might want to split up now, though," came a voice they hadn't heard in over a month.

Turning their heads they saw Alexander walking up to them in standard street clothes but with a hat that she imagined was meant to conceal his pointed ears.

"What do you mean, Alex?" she asked, wondering about the guy's words.

"Well, about half an hour or so ago Cap spotted the pic of you guys catching Shocker on the front page of the Daily Bugle. Now, I don't know how he plans to go about it but he's definitely planning on telling your folks today," Alex replied as he came to a stop a few feet away. "Still, odds are good he'll decide to do the big reveal in person, so you've got some time. Just not a lot of it."

"Then we gotta go now!" Cassie exclaimed, not liking the idea of someone paying her mother a visit.

"We can't. Not without Eli," she said before she could make it sound a little less like fuel for Stature's theory.

"I wonder what's keeping him," Billy said, looking at his watch.

"I'll give him a call," she said as she took out her cell phone and dialed the contact number she had for Patriot. She waited right up until she heard the start of his voicemail before hanging up and trying again, only to get the same result. "He's not answering his cell phone," she said, turning her cell phone off.

"You think he told his grandma the truth and she-?" Billy asked, checking the time once again.

"What? Locked him in his room?" she asked with contempt at the possibility. "Eli's a super-soldier. Even if his grandma wanted to stop him, there's nothing she can do."

"She can make him feel guilty," Billy pointed out, scratching the back of his head in discomfort.

"Except that," she conceded since she too had experience with the disapproving grandma glare.

"And grandma guilt is the worst," Billy said, sounding like she'd experienced something similar.

"Definitely and then there's the way they seem to know what you're doing before you even did it," Alex said, sounding a little creeped out. "I swear Grandma Harris spooked me pretty bad sometimes whenever she came to visit."

That whole precog bit was new to her but then she supposed Alex's grandmother probably just knew him well enough to guess that he was thinking.

"I hate to even ask this, but what if he's done something stupid?" Teddy asked, sounding like that was what his instincts were telling him.

"Like going after MGH dealers on his own?" Billy asked, sounding like he'd seen Patriot do this before.

"And getting himself shot?" Teddy asked in addition, sounding increasingly worried.

"Maybe I can cast a locating spell," Billy said, sounding like he'd be willing to give it a try.

"Then the rest of us should probably start blocking line of sights because magic usually isn't very subtle." Alex said, using his height to block the view of Billy from the left.

"Fine. Just make it quick because the longer we wait…" she said, letting the others fill in the mental blank.

Trying not to look suspicious she casually looked about the area to see if anyone had picked up on Billy's spellcasting but was thankful when her eyes showed no one paying special attention in their direction. As the seconds passed, though, she began to wonder how accurate Billy's spell was if it took this long but in the end her worries were for nothing.

"Found him," Billy said from behind her, "and we were right. He's done something stupid."

"Then I guess we do what comes naturally," Alex said, sounding like he'd already made up his mind. "Ride in like the cavalry and haul his ass out of the fire."

"We?" Cassie asked, looking for clarification on the word used.

"Um… yeah, I mean if you want a little extra muscle…" Alex replied, looking like realized he wasn't as closely connected to them as they were to each other.

"Having him with us would make things easier," Billy said, putting forth his opinion. "I don't know why but Eli isn't in costume and he's taking on MGH runners inside their own lab. Then, of course, there's the man running it all: Mister Hyde."

"HYDE! As in Hulk sized criminal Mister Hyde!?" Cassie exclaimed in shock at who they might be facing.

"Yep," Billy said before he began walking down the street.

"Then yeah, you can come, Alex," she said as the rest of the group followed their spell caster. "We'll need the muscle."

Without further debate the group was on the move but she quickly moved to the front so she could lead them in the direction of the warehouse that was serving as their HQ. If they were going to take on someone as powered up as Mister Hyde, then they were going to do it with all their gear and in costume as opposed to their street clothes.

She just hoped that Eli would be able to hang on long enough for back up to arrive.

 _Hang on Eli! We're coming!_ she thought as she picked up the pace to just under a run.


	6. Decisions Both Good And Bad

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my work. Therefore I would appreciate it if no legal action were taken against me. I can assure you that whatever you got from me wouldn't cover even a fifth of your legal fees.

 _ **The West Side Highway, Inside a Rundown Warehouse, Patriot's POV**_

 _Uuhhhh… should've just mugged the junkie for his stash!_ he thought as he recovered from his fall through the skylight and onto a table covered in beakers and shit.

That probably would've been the smart move but he needed to know if the place was going to be a regular stockpile of MGH or just a hideout for their pushers. Ever since the Young Avengers decided to keep on crime fighting despite Rogers' warning, he'd been going through the bags most junkies had much faster than before the group had formed. One bag was lucky to last him a week and the more addicts he mugged, the more on guard they became. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he needed a way of getting more without anyone being the wiser, so he'd thought that finding out where the scumbags stored their main supply was a good place to start. Sneak in, steal a few bags and then sneak back out without anyone being the wiser for it.

Too bad he hadn't thought of rooftop security.

"He was on the roof. We were trying to—" he heard one of the guys from the roof say before being cut off.

"IDIOTS! Do you have any idea what you've done?" a voice he didn't know asked with anger. "By firing off those shots you have compromised our LOCATION!"

THWAP.

Rolling off the table and onto his feet, he was just in time to see one of the creeps that'd shot at him fly through the air as though struck by a wrecking ball. The guy hit the wall with a loud thud and fell to the ground; he did not get back up or even move all that much. He didn't think the guy was dead but that could change if he didn't get medical help soon.

"Months of preparation, YEARS of research, DESTROYED because of you!" The big man who was the boss grabbed the other goon by the head and lifted him off the ground.

"Doctor Zabo! NO! PLEASE-!" the goon cried frantically as he begged or his life.

KRAKK!

He didn't even need to ask to know that goon number two was either dead or had suffered a broken neck that would leave him paralyzed assuming he survived. However what had his attention though was what the poor fool had said before he'd been dealt the final blow.

"Doctor Zabo-?" he asked with a whisper as he tried to keep himself on his feet.

"Indeed, lad. But you may call me… Mister Hyde." Hyde said as he stepped into the light, thus making his face more visible.

Instantly his mind filled with every news story he'd ever heard about the man before him and he knew he was in serious trouble. This guy had the rep of being able to go toe-to-toe with Thor and manage to make it out in one piece, not to mention being able to lift a locomotive engine over his head. This was WAY beyond what he'd have been able to handle even if he'd gotten juiced up on MGH, and he sure as hell couldn't do anything as he was so he did the only sensible thing.

He ran for the door, hoping that size equaled slow for Zabo.

He did manage to get to a side door in time but, much to his horror, it'd been locked and as he turned to find another way out he found it was too late. Zabo was already on him and before he could do more than go wide eyed, the giant had his big ass hands around his neck. Feeling the security of the floor leave his feet as he was lifted off the ground, he wondered if this was it for him. Was this how he was going to die? It wasn't at all like he pictured it'd happen. He'd always thought it'd be in costume, taking some super criminal down with him as he went.

Worst of all, though, he knew how it'd affect his grandparents.

It'd hurt them both but his grandpa would take it especially hard since he'd blame himself for the whole costume thing. People always underestimated how much was still going on inside his grandfather's head even with the side effects of the government's experiments messing him up. He'd known with a look that his grandpa had figured out what he was Patriot and the happiness that he'd seen had been all he'd needed to know he was doing the right thing. He loved his grandfather more than anything and knowing that he had the man's approval touched him in a way few others ever had.

"How did you find this place?" Hyde asked while applying a bit of pressure to his grip. "Who else knows you're here?"

 _I'm sorry grandpa!_ he thought as he figured his time had come. _I failed you!_

Then out of nowhere an arrow embedded itself in Zabo's arm, causing the big man to cry out in pain. Looking as best he could in the direction of the shot came from, his hope soared as he saw his team standing in a doorway, costumes on, and ready to kick ass. The only surprise was seeing Kid Namor floating next to Wiccan in the air but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He'd take all the help he could get!

"Let go of the boy!" Kate ordered as she lined up another arrow. "NOW!"

"If you insist," Zabo said before he suddenly found himself flying through the air toward his friends.

Wiccan caught him in some kind of energy sphere as the others ran by to take on Mister Hyde.

"I've got you, Eli," Billy said as he lowered the sphere to the ground.

"We'll get the giant bad guy," Teddy said before his team got too busy to talk.

At first he was okay with it but then his pride reared its head and he found himself angry that his friends had been forced to bail him out. He'd learned a long time ago in his neighborhood that the weak didn't last long and that it was the strong that made the rules. When he'd gotten the stuff together to become Patriot, he finally thought that he'd become one of the strong but, as he saw the look of surprise on Billy's face, he realized he'd overlooked one thing.

His super powers weren't permanent.

"Eli… you're bleeding!" Wiccan said in surprise. "What happened to your powers?"

"Leave me ALONE!" he growled before he turned to run for the only place that would make him strong again.

Turning the corner into another section of the warehouse that hadn't been visible from the skylight, he searched for any sign of MGH. He didn't care if it was the pills or stuff straight from the beaker since either one would give him his Patriot powers again and let him brush off the bit of blood Billy'd seen as just the strength behind Hyde's punches. Trying the first door he came to, his was lucky that it opened up right away and even luckier when he got inside to see a beaker full of green MGH. Closing the door behind him, he stuck a chair beneath the doorknob to keep anyone from following him in. From there he grabbed a needle, extracted the maximum amount of MGH from the beaker that he dared to take and then he injected it right into his arm.

Too bad it was a second later that Billy broke the door down with his powers and caught him in the act.

"Eli… please tell me you didn't…" Billy said, too shocked to finish a sentence.

"I just need a boost, okay?" he asked rhetorically as he dropped the needle. "Mister Hyde has had a serious upgrade, Billy, and he's—"

"How much did you take?" Billy asked, cutting him off and taking a step forward.

He tried to respond but as the effects of the drug kicked in his was unable to keep from groaning as he sunk to his knees.

"Eli, you're already a super-solider," Billy said in protest of the actions. "Mutant growth hormone is for people who don't have powers."

The silence that came after was all he needed to hear to know that Wiccan had put the pieces together.

"Oh, my god," Billy gasped as he voiced the truth. "You don't have powers. Do you, Eli?"

"Billy, please…" he beseeched his friend as the drug continued to pump up his body. "…you have no idea what the team is up against."

For a moment he feared that his friend would demand an immediate explanation but thankfully concern for the team was enough to get Billy to shelve the issue for the time being. It only took another three minutes for the MGH to finish pumping him up and, even as he felt the rage, the desire for violence, rise within him, he grabbed his bag that the thugs must've tossed into the room and began suiting up.

His team needed him and he would NOT let them down!

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _MAN! I don't know if this is Mister Hyde juiced up or not but if it isn't then we seriously don't want him sticking himself with anything,_ he thought as he got up off the floor after a nasty right hook had managed to connect with his jaw. _Also gotta stop underestimating baddies. Sure, I got a major upgrade from Kang but that doesn't mean I'm automatically gonna win._

"Hulkling!" Stature exclaimed as their only other muscle man got decked in the face.

Shaking off his own cobwebs, he ran to get back into the fight and prevent Hyde from getting the space he needed to try anything.

"Stature! The needle in his hand!" Hawkeye exclaimed as she prepared to fire off another arrow.

Seeing what the archer was referring to, he picked up the pace since he doubted whatever could be in the pointy thing would improve the odds of the good guys.

"Not to worry, Giant Girl," Zabo said smugly before beginning a downward plunge with the needle. "It's not for you, it's for ME."

With a speed he hadn't seen anywhere before, the already large muscled man began to grow even larger, his muscles growing to disgusting sizes, veins and all. If the man's strength was multiplied to the same degree his size just was, then the team was about to see and probably feel some serious damage in the near future.

"It doesn't matter how big you get, Hyde!" Stature declared as she began to grow to match her opponent. "I can always get BIGGER."

"Well, you know what they say…" Hyde stated as he grabbed the blonde by the arm. "The bigger they are…"

In a move of surprising skill, Mister Hyde managed to throw Stature over his shoulder and send the young woman flying towards him at an impressive speed. Positioning his arms to catch her, he also braced himself for the impact and it was a good thing he did because, even with the little give he allowed and the way he'd planted his feet, the throw still almost took the two of them to the wall. Still he managed and, seeing as how he hadn't felt any bone breakage or signs that Stature had been hurt, he didn't give it a second thought.

"Normally I'd be thrilled holding a beautiful blonde in my arms but I think we've got something a little more important to do," he said with his usual lopsided smile as he set the blonde down on her feet.

"Right," Stature said before they both charged back towards their enemy even as Hawkeye fired three arrows into Hyde's back so she could climb them.

Once the purple clad woman was there she pulled her bow against the man's throat in an effort to choke him out.

"And the bigger the mouth is, the more likely it is to take up all the oxygen in the room!" Hawkeye declared putting ever more pressure on the man's throat. "So, what do you say we get some air?"

With that the archer steered the big man into a nearby wall that promptly broke down under the force of Hyde's mass and strength, letting light from the outside come pouring in.

This also revealed though that the NYPD had caught wind of the fight and had at least three patrol cars and twice that many cops outside with their guns drawn.

"FREEZE! POLICE! Put your hands over your head! NOW!" came the yell of one of the officers.

 _No way is that caveman going to just surrender to a couple of cops,_ he thought, not slowing his charge in the least. _Gotta get there before he tries anything!_

"Better do as he says, Hyde," Hawkeye suggested without releasing the hold she had on him.

"You're in no position to give orders, little one," Hyde said with entirely too much confidence. "After all, what good is an archer with a broken bow?"

Without warning Zabo snapped the bow around his neck, causing the young woman to fall from her perch but, even as she did so, the man moved to do something worse.

"Don't feel badly, though." Hyde said as he grabbed Hawkeye by the leg. "You may not be the next Hawkeye—"

With a thought he took to the air and crossed the distance just in time to deliver a thunderous straight punch to the giant's jaw, disrupting his bragging and causing him to release his grip on Hawkeye. Catching the young woman as he passed by, he didn't touch down until the two of them were a good fifteen or so feet away from the criminal just to make sure of their safety. Setting her down, he turned to glare at the man who he had no doubt had intended to use the woman as a human shield in order to make his escape.

"She might not yet have the same rep as the original Hawkeye, asshole, but at least she's smart enough not to try shit like that when I'm around," he said, voice as cold as ice. "Care to try someone a little more in your power class?"

"Let's find out!" Hyde replied, clearly furious over the blow that'd ruined his human shield plan.

Without hesitation he charged the man, intent on controlling the tempo of the fight from the beginning and hopefully ending it before the hairy giant got any bright ideas. All Zabo wound up being able to do was take a single step forward before they collided and, with every blow that was executed, the building vibrated a bit with the force of the impact. He could tell right away that the man was a brawler who relied on powerful moves and his formidable size in order to win a fight. Fortunately for him this worked in his favor because, with the skills he'd inherited from Halloween and the refinement he'd undergone training with Thena, he had a sizeable edge in skill. Punches were parried off to the side in order to allow him to deliver a punch to the stomach or the rib cage while blows he couldn't neutralize were effectively blocked. While Hyde's strength was impressive, it didn't come close to his and, with the durability he'd inherited from his biological father, he'd be lucky to have a bruise. Still, he couldn't let this fight drag on forever since sooner or later the entire building would come down on them and those members of the Young Avengers without enhanced durability could be injured.

Therefore, when he saw a big enough opening, he began to lay into the giant with combo after combo designed to take out the guy's joints. Zabo tried to retaliate but, with every successful combo he managed to pull off, the man's ability to retaliate was reduced, making it that much easier to continue. However, just as he was about to deliver the coup de grace, someone grabbed him by the shoulder and flung him head over heels away from his foe.

"BACK OFF! HE'S MINE!" yelled a voice he barely recognized as belonging to Patriot.

As soon as he got back to his feet he saw a seriously pumped up, like super sterioded, Patriot taking it to Hyde like someone with a head full of fury and the means to vent it on whoever he liked. If it had been a straight up fight Zabo might've been able to put up a better fight but, thanks to all the damage he'd done, Patriot wasn't having any trouble beating the guy black and blue. At first he was just a little concerned because of how determined the guy was to pound Hyde into the ground but, as time went by without a stop to the beating, that concern grew.

"Patriot, that's enough!" he said, moving to stop the co-leader of the Young Avengers. "He's down. We can tie him up and hand him over to the police now."

Patriot snapped his eyes around to look at him and he could tell that there was an inner debate going on inside the young American's head. Whatever the guy had used to pump himself up obviously messed with his head as well making it debatable what the Young Avenger would do next. Unfortunately that was how Cap and his team found things when the New Avengers showed up, making for a not quite so flattering image for the famous heroes.

"Stand down, Patriot… or we'll take you down." Cap declared in a no nonsense tone of voice.

"You want a fight, Captain?" Patriot asked with hostility as he turned away from an unconscious Mister Hyde. "You've got one."

"I want to help you, son," Cap said, trying to make his words get through.

"I asked for your help, I asked you to train us, and you said no. You said you'd do everything in your power to stop us," Patriot growled, sweat dripping all over his head. "Well, here we are Captain. What are you gonna do?"

Ten seconds ticked by without anyone doing anything.

"I thought so. C'mon guys," Patriot said before turning to walk out the nearby open door.

"Eli, Cap's right," Wiccan said, stretching out a hand in concern. "You need help."

"What I NEED are some friends I can trust," Patriot said, looking at his team. "I'm leaving. You do what you want."

 _The guy's a bundle of rage hopped up super steroids,_ he thought with concern of his own. _Left like this, he's a ticking time bomb. Someone has to stop him._

Fortunately he didn't have to do anything because Wiccan was quicker on the draw and one spell found Patriot unconscious on the ground with no sign of waking up anytime soon. It was better than his idea and that was to whack the guy in the back of the head to make him go unconscious and safer since he wasn't sure he could pull a calibrated blow like that. So far all the people he'd fought against had been powerhouses like him and, as was usually the case, those people had enhanced durability included in their super power package. In Patriot's case the guy might be stronger and a little more durable but it'd be better not to risk it until he can knock a watermelon off a post without denting it.

Once Patriot was confirmed down the whole group was invited to come back to Stark Tower, where the unofficial leader of the Young Avengers could get the super steroids flushed from his system and discussions could be had. He knew which way things would likely go in those discussions, so it'd be as good a time as any to let his fellow teens know where he stood and maybe approach Lady Hawkeye about the idea of putting him up as a tenant at one of her family's buildings.

It'd be weird but, since he'd be willing to pay, he didn't think there'd be a problem.

 _ **Stark Tower**_

 _ **Avengers HQ Floor, An Hour After the Defeat of Mister Hyde**_

 _ **Captain America's POV**_

"I can't believe this!" Cassie exclaimed even as her agitation caused her to grow in size a bit. "You really went to our parents?!"

"Cassie, calm down," he said as gently as he could as he tried to get the girl to stay small and calm. "Everything's going to be fine. Jessica met with your Mom and—"

"You TOLD her about me?" Cassie asked, no doubt envisioning the welcome she'd get when she returned home.

"I didn't have to," Jessica said with empathy in her voice. "She'd figured it out on her own."

"Who else did you talk to?" Eli asked as he entered the room with the new Vision.

Deciding that this needed to come from him, he stepped up in front of the young man before he spoke.

"I spoke with your grandmother," he said, remembering the conversation with the elderly woman. "She told me there was NO blood transfusion. Eli, tell me the truth."

"The truth?" Eli asked rhetorically with a look of shame on his face. "The truth is, when Iron Lad showed up at the house, he wasn't looking for me. He was looking for my uncle, Josiah. My uncle had inherited my grandfather's powers but he disappeared over a year ago. So when Iron Lad told me he was in trouble, that he needed a super-soldier, I lied and told him he'd found one. And then I did what I had to do to become one. I'm sorry."

He could see the regret on the young man's face and knew that nothing he could say could make Patriot feel any worse than his own shame was at the moment. It was probably akin to seeing a dream being shattered and being helpless to do anything to stop it. He could relate since he'd been through a few of those moments himself during the course of his career as Captain America.

It never got easier.

"So, all those MGH dealers you busted…?" Hulkling asked, like he was still having trouble accepting what he was hearing.

"I hated having to lie to you guys but I knew that was the only way I was ever gonna be a hero," Eli said, tears falling from the eye slits of his mask. "So I'll save you the speech, Captain. You won't have to worry about my playing super-soldier anymore because I quit."

With that Patriot, aka Eli Bradley, walked out of the room, looking very much like it'd be the last time anyone saw him in costume. While this had been what he'd been going for from the beginning, it didn't mean he felt good about it. Part of him felt good to see that there were such young people willing to stand up and do what was right because it meant even if his current team of Avengers fell, there'd be others who could take up the fight. However he refused to let them do so when they were still kids and didn't have to. While some of their intentions might be genuine, most of it he imagined came from how the media tended to glorify the life of a costumed hero while leaving out the costs that came with the job. Even if there were times when being a costumed hero was satisfying and perhaps even fun, there were also times when he'd been tempted to take off the uniform and leave it behind. For all their powers and skills, the Avengers and heroes like them were still people where it mattered and bad times could wear them down just as much as anyone else.

Deciding that he'd best move on the others before they got their second defiant wind back, he turned his gaze on them.

What he found was a team significantly discouraged by the resignation of one whom many of them considered the team leader. They might not have been a team long but he'd found that time wasn't as big a factor as most people thought when it came to forming bonds between teammates. Sometimes all it took was one battle fighting side by side and other times it took less than a month, but they formed nonetheless.

"So… anyone know any good karate dojos in town? Maybe something that trains people to use bo staffs, too?" Xander asked from his position against a wall to the side of the room.

"What do you mean Xander?" Jessica asked before he could ask the question himself.

"Well, I figured that even if Eli can't be a super soldier anymore 'cause of how messed up you get on MGH, then maybe he could look for something else to give him an edge," Xander replied with a half shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, they're plenty of heroes out there who don't have a superpower to their names and they still manage to pull off some pretty impressive victories. Hell, Lady Hawkeye here doesn't have super powers but seeing her fight, I gotta say she has some impressive skills. If Eli works hard enough at it, he could be back in inside a year or two."

"You honestly think he's going to even want to look at his costume after this!?" Cassie asked, clearly the most upset of the group.

"I think his desire to help people is as real now as it was when he told Iron Lad he'd found a super-soldier. Yeah, he's messed up a bit right now but that doesn't mean in a week he won't look at the front page of the Daily Bugle or listen to police sirens and not want to do SOMETHING," Xander replied, not letting the blonde girl's emotions get to him. "Sooner or later something is going to make him think 'to hell with it' and he will dive into a situation with only his courage and his willpower to see him through. What'd be better? That he have some actual skills to work with and up the odds of him making it out in one piece or have him go in powered down and as is?"

"What'd be better is if he put any idea of being a costumed hero on the shelf until he's old enough to drink," he said, wanting to stop this line of thought before it got too far out of hand. "Even if he did start training tomorrow, it takes more than a year to become good enough to fight crime in this city, even if it's just street gangs and muggers. Between his schoolwork and training, he'd be twenty-one anyways by the time it'd be safe for him to put on the Patriot costume again."

"Maybe, but knowing what the smart thing to do is and actually doing it when the time comes to choose are two different things," Xander said, not sounding discouraged in the least. "If I'd done the smart thing back in SunnyD when I'd first learned about vamps and demons, Buffy would've died her first week in town and maybe Willow along with her. Because the smart thing at that point would've been to take some precautions but otherwise keep my head down and not go looking for trouble. Sometimes you don't get to choose the time and place to step up and be measured, Cap."

"Well, these kids do. New York has plenty of heroes to take care of any trouble that comes along," he said, trying to emphasize that the Young Avengers didn't need to help and could live normal lives.

"Well since the mayor hasn't announced his decision to shut down the police department and Time magazine hasn't written a story declaring New York City the sole crime-free city in the world, I'd say there's need enough for a few more people willing to step up and do what's right," Xander countered, determination and defiance in his eyes. "If you're so concerned about them getting hurt then train them. Put them through an Avengers training session and help them raise their game to where it needs to be."

"As you found out with the gateway that was supposed to send you and the others home, the Avengers don't have a great deal of free time for such things," he said, getting annoyed at being opposed on what was a fairly simple decision. "Between their schooling and our missions, we'd be lucky to get a single day of training a week set up."

"Then maybe I'll ask Thena, Lyra and Janet if they'd be willing to help out," Xander said, taking a track that he hadn't expected. "All three of them have training that could helpful to them and, as far as I know, none of them have anything taking up their time at the moment. Sure, Jan is looking for a job but the rest of them are pretty much making up their days as they go along."

This point had left him a little flatfooted because, as much as he wanted to deny what'd been said, it was true. The three teammates and roommates of Xander had plenty of free time on their hands as well as combat skills that they could teach to others. Still, there was one part of that idea he could argue with and so he did just that.

"While Janet might be able to help a bit, it'd be too dangerous for either Thena or Lyra to teach them anything. Both of them are superhumanly strong and don't have any experience teaching people how to fight from scratch," he pointed out, confident that he'd intercepted the young man's point and blocked it.

"Um… HELLO!" came a new voice to the conversation. "Have either of you two thought to ask what we want?"

Turning his head, he found that it'd been the ever-opinionated Miss Bishiop who'd inserted herself into the conversation.

"I appreciate you standing up for us, Alex, but if you're all about letting us make our own choices then let us do that," Miss Bishop said with a tone that implied she really did appreciate Xander showing his support. "I can't speak for the others but I've already got enough teachers telling me how to fight, so I don't need help from your gal pals. As for being a Young Avenger… I think I need some time to think things through. I almost got used as a human shield by Miser Hyde today and I gotta say, it was not a fun experience."

 _Good to see at least one of them is realizing the danger they'd been in,_ he thought with a mental nod of approval. _Now if I can just get the others to do the same._

"I get what you're both saying but I guess whatever Billy plans on doing, I'll probably follow his lead," Teddy said, sounding like he was too unsure to make his own decision. "I mean, I'll miss being Hulking and all but I don't think I'd like going at this solo."

 _That's two,_ he thought as he turned his gaze to Billy.

"I thought I knew what being a hero was all about. Finding out that Eli's been poppin' MGH to get his super-soldier powers pretty much proves that wrong," Billy said, sounding less confident but also thoughtful. "I guess I'm pretty much in the same boat as Kate. I need time to think things through again."

"Thanks to my Mom finding out and everything, she's probably going to be watching me like a hawk for the next month," Cassie said, sounding like she was dreading what was to come. "Even if I wanted to keep on being Stature, slipping away from my Mom and doing it without her knowing is impossible."

 _Guess it'll finally stick this time,_ he thought with a sober satisfaction. _Time to see how Xander will take it._

"Well, I can't say you don't have your reasons or that you don't have the right to think things through," Xander said, sounding just a little disappointed. "Still WHEN you guys decide to revive the Young Avengers, be sure to get in touch with me. I'd like to know where to drop off my resume."

"You want to JOIN the Young Avengers?" Cassie asked, sounding a little surprised.

"Sure. It's not like I can apply for a chair at the big table with Cap thinking the way he does right now and money's not an issue for me right now with fifty grand in my newly opened bank account," Xander replied, making it sound perfectly logical. "I've always been for fighting the good fight and doing it with the Young Avengers seems as good an idea as any other."

While not liking how it was phrased, Xander's statement was accurate.

"Well, if your prediction turns out to be right, then we'll give you a call," Kate declared, apparently thinking herself as the de facto leader since Patriot wasn't in the room.

With that the Young Avengers left to return to their homes and hopefully put the whole idea of being heroes on the shelf until they were old enough and skilled enough to handle the hardships that come with being a costumed hero.

When the time came, when they were ready, he'd be the first to welcome them with open arms.

 _ **A Few Days Later**_

 _ **San Francisco, California, USA**_

 _ **LAX Airport, Morning**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _GOD! I'd rather be facing down a horde of vampires rather than be doing this,_ he thought as he got into a taxi outside the airport. _But with the Young Avengers disbanded for the time being and nothing interesting happening, now's as good a time as any._

He knew that some people would put stuff like this off for as long as they could but he NEEDED to see her, if only to confirm with his own eyes that she really was still alive. He had the address Cap gave him for Willow and, before he left for the airport, he'd had Tony confirm it with his super-duper computer that's hooked into just about every system on the planet. With a destination in mind he'd told Jan and the others where he'd be going and what he'd be doing, so naturally all except Lyra offered to go with him for emotional support. He'd declined, citing that Willow would probably not be happy to see him and might start screaming betrayal if he showed up with a new team after 'abandoning' the Scoobies. While he didn't think it'd be a cakewalk with just him being there, it'd give his best friend less ammunition to throw at him and perhaps make her more reasonable.

 _Heh… like anyone would be reasonable when facing someone who wasn't there when they needed them,_ he thought as the driver turned to look at him.

"Where to, pal?" the driver asked casually, like he probably did hundreds of times during the course of a day.

"The Sunset District," he replied, deciding he'd prefer to get dropped off in the general area of where Willow was living rather than on her doorstep.

It'd give him a chance to scope out the environment first and figure out if there was a 'best time' to visit and a 'bad time' to visit. He hadn't asked either Cap or Tony to do any kind of in depth research into Willow, like if she'd started a family, had roommates or anything like that because, to be honest, he didn't want to know. If he knew it'd shove back into his face that she'd moved on without him and that he hadn't been there for her during the FUBAR incident that cost her both legs. He'd pushed such thoughts to the back of his mind but they were always there, whispering at him in an accusatory manner, despite his best efforts to suppress them. So he guessed this made him only half a coward but, since it also made him half brave, then he was better off than he could hope for given the situation.

It didn't take him long to get to the Sunset District and once he was there he decided to take in the scenery on a whim to see if there was anything here that'd explain Willow's decision to live in this neighborhood. Walking, he found that most of the population was Asian, with only an odd Irish looking person keeping the former from being a steady constant. Aside from the odd bit of Chinese takeout his best bud enjoyed as a treat every now and then, he couldn't think of anything in the neighborhood that'd appeal to her enough to move in. Maybe when she'd been apartment hunting this was the only part of San Francisco that had something in her price range. In any case, just standing around on the sidewalk wasn't going to solve anything so, with a quick consult of the 'smartphone' Tony had given him after returning from the Sunnydale Crater, he began moving.

 _Of course I seriously doubt most smartphones out there are this high tech._ he thought, remembering the first time he saw one to compare his own to. _Even the village idiot would've been able to tell that this thing is teched up to the fourth power._

Though whether it was because Iron Man was just feeling generous or because all the extra features just made it easier to keep tabs on what he was up to, he didn't know. He knew that the words he'd spoken whenever the Young Avengers was the topic didn't sit well with Cap and, considering Tony was the other half of the team leadership, it probably didn't win him an ally in Shellhead either. While it wasn't exactly heroic to secretly lojack your friends, he was beginning to believe that 'hero' was just a label the public bestowed on certain people and at their core they were as human as the next person. That meant they got annoyed having their authority challenged by someone they didn't believe had earned the right and tended to be suspicious of people who had power and talked back. Not that they thought he'd do anything EVIL but rather something reckless or ill advised that they'd likely have to clean up afterwards.

Walking along, he noticed a few people look at him and so he pulled the hat he was wearing down further in order to cover up his pointy ears. He'd heard in the news that a lot of the world's mutants had relocated to San Francisco and that, for the most part, the local population was willing to be peaceful with them. However it was a tentative, volatile, peace that'd likely crack the first time someone on either side got it in their heads to pick a fight or do something else stupid. He had no wish to get harassed by anti-mutant bigots during his visit to San Francisco and he certainly didn't want to get Willow labeled a 'mutie lover' just because he walked up to her front door.

When he finally arrived at the address he'd been given, his inner unease swelled and almost made him turn right around but he ruthless shoved it aside. One way or another he was going to have to deal with his past and better he actually be able to say he came as soon as he could than have her spot him doing the hero thing on TV. If that happened, she'd have grounds to say that he'd taken his time and he wouldn't be able to refute the claim very easily. The apartment itself wasn't part of a building but more a case of a room that was for rent and could be used as an apartment or an office or any one of a number of things that'd work with that amount of space. He was lucky in that there was no buzzer system where he'd have to contact the resident of the room he intended to visit and have them ring him in. All he had to do was go up to the right floor, trot down the hallway until he found the door with the right number on it and then muster up enough courage to knock on the door.

That last bit was a lot harder than most people thought.

For him at least it was.

It'd taken working up the strength to do it before his brain could stop him but he eventually managed it and now came the waiting. Considering the fact that Willow was in a wheelchair, something that never failed to make his heart pulse with pain whenever he thought of it, he listened for the sound of something with wheels approaching the door. When he heard the sound of someone unlocking the door without any noises signaling an approach, he could only conclude that his best bud must really make sure that her wheels are well oiled and the door was pretty thick. It was when the door opened though that he got the biggest shock.

Sitting in what looked to be a fairly impressive electronic wheelchair that had a few personalized odds and ends attached to it was Willow. Her hair was fairly short, stopping just above the shoulders, and looked like waterfalls complimented quite nicely by the glasses she was wearing. They didn't make her look dorky but rather… sophisticated, refined, if he had to describe them somehow. She was dressed fairly causal, sweats and a T-shirt, but he couldn't help but wince at how the pant legs were folded under what was left of her lower limbs. He knew from some mental math that she was about twenty-four years old and he could definitely see some aging as far as her body went. However it was the eyes when his and hers locked where he saw the most aging because, where once there'd been an innocent young lady with an appetite for knowledge, there was someone else.

Someone harder. Someone who was determined not to leave anything to chance for the rest of her life.

It hurt him to know that he'd played a role in these changes by not being there to protect her.

"Xander?" Willow gasped once she got over her shock enough to speak.

"Hey Wills!" he said, falling back on his usual way of greeting her. "Long time huh?"

Not his preferred way for this to go down; that would've been for Willow to be so glad to see him that while she would give him the 'Angry Resolve Look' enough time would've passed to cool her anger somewhat.

Sadly he was disappointed.

VIOLENTLY.

Without warning and little time to prepare Willow thrust her right hand forward, her fingers bent into talon like shapes, and an unseen force struck him, sending him into the wall opposite the apartment door hard enough to crack it. He almost began to fall to the floor, his mind dazed enough that standing would be a problem, when the same unseen force pinned him to the wall, leaving his feet a good inch off the ground. Looking at his friend, he was shocked to see that her eyes had gone black as ink with veins of a similar color spreading out across her skin from the corners of her eyes. Unless his eyes were very much deceiving him, bits of her hair were beginning to darken towards black but, just as quickly as it all happened, it vanished. The unseen force released him, causing him to fall onto his ass on the hallway floor while Willow seemed to be doing calming exercises in her chair, causing the blackness to recede from her physical form. In less than a minute she'd gone back to how she'd looked when she'd first opened the door but the look on her face, the bitter fury, was still as strong as ever.

"You've got some nerve showing your face to me, you BASTARD!" she growled in a way that let him know there were still some cracks in her emotional control.

"I… I know. I just… I needed to see you," he said as he got to his feet, the weight of his guilt making it difficult. "I wanted to explain what happened, where I've been, because even if you hate me I still see you as my best bud and you deserve to know the truth."

For a moment it looked like she'd tell him to 'fuck off' before slamming the door in his face but instead she simply turned her wheelchair around and headed back into her apartment. Taking this as the classic Sunnydale non-verbal invitation he strode into the apartment, closing the door behind him before following his angry friend into what looked like a living room of some kind. The furniture was obviously arranged in such a way that it'd be easy to navigate using a wheelchair but, aside from that, the place wasn't quite like how it'd been back in the Rosenberg house. Every time he'd gone over to Willow's house everything had been neat and tidy, without a single thing out of place or so much as a speck of dust to be had. This apartment, while not completely disorderly, looked a bit more like his room after he made a half-decent attempt to clean it up because he was expecting company.

Mostly neat but with a few things hanging off the edges or looking like they'd been placed in a certain spot at random.

Eventually, though, Willow became satisfied with where they were, turned around and glared at him with the unspoken message 'so… SPEAK' in her eyes.

So he began from the very beginning, leaving his house to go on his cross country road trip, and went from there leaving no detail out. Naturally he didn't get anal with the details because that likely would've just made his best bud even angrier with him and that didn't help either of them. He explained how he'd been approached by Kang in disguise and the deal that was made between the two of them before he'd been transported to the future. How he'd been changed into a true son of Namor and been hooked up with a team of other heroes to apprehend Iron Lad of the Young Avengers in order to send him back to his proper moment in time. How he'd learned the truth about his 'benefactor' and turned on him with the intent of forcing the warlord to return him and his team home even though they hadn't kept up their part of the bargain. He told her of the aftermath of the battle and how he'd stayed at Stark Tower waiting for the big brains to finish creating their portal machine so all five of them could return home.

Then came the heaviest part of the story, when Kang's ultimate treachery was revealed upon his attempt to pass through the portal only for it to put on an unexpected lightshow. He told her about the consequences for each member of the team, including him, and how he'd flown out to what remained of Sunnydale as soon as he learned he could never go back to when it all began.

"I know I probably should've come to see you sooner, as soon as I got your address, but honestly I was afraid of what'd happen," he said after taking a moment to compose himself. "Cap gave me the cliff notes version of what'd happened since I left, the stuff he and SHIELD could piece together anyway, and… I'm sorry, Willow. I am SO sorry I ever left you guys!"

As he said these words a part of him had to wonder what he was hoping to gain from this little explanation to his best friend. Forgiveness? Probably. Hope for a resumed friendship? That would be beyond awesome if it could become reality. However in the end it all came down to how Willow reacted to his story. He'd taken off his cap to show her the pointy Namor ears as proof of what he was telling her and he was prepared to roll up his pant leg to show her his mini-wings, but he'd wait for her to make the next move.

"So that was the price, huh?" Willow asked, bitterly and rhetorically. "All it took to get you to abandon your friends was some new powers and your own damn definitions of right and wrong!"

"What?" he asked, not quite understanding what his friend was saying.

"GOD! You still don't get it, do you!?" Willow asked, looking like she was getting increasingly worked up. "Three years on the Hellmouth and the first time some stranger offers to power you up you take it no questions asked! Did you leave your brain in your room!? NOTHING IS FOR FREE! EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE! And it's never what you think it'll be!"

"I wasn't completely blind about it, Willow," he said, determined not to get dragged into a yelling match with her. "But it was either that or wait for you and the gang to try and push me fray adjacent again. I didn't like it the first time and this was a way to keep it from happening a second time. Besides, I didn't know the guy was Kang or that he'd zip me off to the future. I just thought he was some mage or some obscure tech guy like Reed Richards or Tony Stark. Besides, I made him agree that if things weren't on the up and up I'd walk away with no repercussions from him."

"All Faustian deals start out like that, Xander!" Willow barked, not taking what he was offering. "They trick you into taking that first step and then it's all downhill from there! As for putting you fray adjacent, I think this is a damn good example of why you should've just done as you were told and go there! You obviously have all the good judgment of a monkey not to see where things were going to go from the beginning!"

"I admit I'm not as smart as you or Giles but this is the exception not the rule, Willow," he said as he tried to defend himself. "If I'd listened to you guys from the beginning, we'd all be in hell right now thanks to O'Toole and his buddies."

"What bullshit excuse are you trying to sell me now?" Willow asked, looking a bit thrown but still pumped up on righteous rage.

He told her about the time when they'd tried to push him out of slaying 'for his own good' and how it'd gone downhill when he'd crossed paths with Jack O'Toole. The story unfolded of how he'd gotten 'recruited' to be the driver for O'Toole's night of fun as the guy went around raising his dead pals. He told her how he'd tried to tell Giles what was going on in the graveyard only to be brushed off with the same 'stay out of supernatural trouble' line. Explaining how after that O'Toole and his buddies kept mentioning 'baking a cake' had worried him, he steered the story towards how he'd encountered her only to receive a similar brush off. Things rolled along after that though he carefully omitted how Faith had chosen to reward him for saving her from a group of she demons since that wouldn't do him any good. Before long he reached the part where he clued in about how Jack had planned on making a bomb and his decision to stop him since the Scoobies didn't know a thing. The story ended with the telling of how he'd stared down O'Toole into disarming the bomb before walking out with a smile on his face.

Willow looked shocked since she was no doubt processed what'd likely have happened if the bomb had gone off in the school during their fight with the she-demons. However, just as he thought it might've been enough to dispel a fair portion of the anger she felt towards him, the look of bitter anger on her face returned to full strength.

"So what? I'm just supposed to be all grateful and let you off the hook?!" Willow asked sarcastically, a bit of a sneer on her lips. "NOT HAPPENING! You didn't stop O'Toole because of skill! You stopped him out of sheer LUCK! He lost his nerve but he could've just as easily said 'screw you' and let the bomb go off! You should've tried harder to let us know what he was planning and we'd have handled it. Between me and Giles, we could've disarmed that bomb without O'Toole's help! We could've stopped those zombies before they even got into the school!"

Her words hurt him but at the same time he was beginning to get a bit angry himself because, while it hadn't been a night worthy of being made into a movie, he was pretty damn proud of what he'd managed to do. He'd saved Faith's life and the lives of just about everyone on the planet all on his own by taking care of O'Toole and his crew. In his mind it'd proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he was more than capable of fighting alongside the rest of the Scooby gang and he wasn't going to let Willow tear his accomplishment apart.

"How was I supposed to do that, Willow? I couldn't get more than a sentence or two in edge-wise before you guys'd hand me some line and beat feet away from me," he said with a bit of firmness to his tone. "If I'd gone after you or Giles, you'd have just tried to shut me down all the harder or ignored me completely. I couldn't get you guys to handle it because you wouldn't let me fill you all in on what was going on."

"How hard would it've been to say 'zombies want to blow up the school'!?" she asked harshly, as though she hadn't even considered his words for more than a second. "Face it, Xander, you never stop to think before you act and it's going to get you and anyone around you killed. Don't think you're new Namor upgrades are going to change anything. They're just gonna help you make a bigger mess than you were capable of before you got them!"

Anger began to rise in him because even though different words were being used and a different person was saying them, he couldn't help but draw comparisons between what Willow was doing and what his stepdad had been doing most of his life. Tearing apart everything he did, telling him he'd always be a screw up and that he should just leave the big stuff to his betters. He didn't want to get angry, he didn't want to risk destroying whatever chance he might have for repairing his relationship with Willow, but he was not going to let ANYONE talk to him like that.

"Like you're one to talk! What happened to Sunnydale, huh?" he asked with a bit of an edge. "I know from Cap that you moved away from Sunnydale a good two years before it became a giant hole in the ground. I wonder if our old hometown would still be there if you'd stuck around. How many people are dead because you jumped ship!?"

"HOW DARE YOU!?" she exclaimed, a bit of blackness creeping back into her coloring. "I did everything I could, twice as much since I had to make up for you not being there, and look at what it cost me!" she gestured to her legs, or rather what was left of them after the Initiative mess.

"Do you really think the new Slayer and Watcher they sent in were going to wheel me around on patrols? A cripple!?" she yelled, making it clear her legs were a touchy subject with her. "It's hard enough surviving on the Hellmouth when you've got two working legs! Imagine trying to survive with no working legs!"

"That's an excuse and you know it!" he yelled back, no longer caring about being the calm one. "How many times did Giles ever go into the field? You know as well as I do that, unless it was an apocalypse, he stayed in the library. He was our info guy! You could've been the info girl! You have serious hacking skills and you are one of the smartest people I know! If you couldn't fight, there were other ways you could've made a difference but instead you bailed. You RAN!"

"GET OUT! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!" Willow yelled at the top of her lungs, the blackness in her appearance almost back to where it'd been at the door.

Deciding he didn't need to be tossed about by mojo again, he turned to leave but not before getting one final word in.

"We knew fighting was dangerous from the Harvest on in, Willow," he said in an ice cold tone. "That never stopped us from stepping up and doing the right thing. When did doing the right thing stop being worth a damn to you?"

With that he walked out of the apartment, out of the building and completely at random he chose a direction before beginning to walk, not particularly caring when he was going to stop.

 _ **Descending Towards Funtime Inc. Complex (Abandoned)**_

 _ **Iron Man's POV**_

"Are you sure you'll be okay with whatever you have to do this morning?" he asked as he watched the ground get closer. "I'm going to be off-line for about an hour and—"

"Webs and Cage are here," Wolverine said from the other side of the com-link. "We'll be fine."

"OK. Iron Man is out," he said before terminating the connection. "Armor."

"Good morning Mister Stark," the A.I. of his suit replied as it was programmed to.

"Environment scan," he ordered as his feet finally touched solid ground.

"Atmosphere, content or attendance?" the A.I. asked in its usual neutral tone.

"Attendance," he replied as he entered the building and made his way to the usual room.

"Reading four humanoid life forms and an astral energy projection one hundred feet ahead," the A.I. replied promptly.

"Everyone's here," he said, trusting his suit's sensors to tell the truth.

Entering the room, he did indeed confirm with his own eyes that the five other members of the Illuminati were indeed in attendance, even if in Stephen's case it was only in spirit. For the most part they seemed to be calm and open but, as always, Namor looked like he had a retreating porcupine up his ass about something. Deciding it'd probably be best to let them ask whatever questions they wanted to before he said anything, he chose to start things off with a friendly greeting.

"Gentlemen-" he said before Namor cut him off.

"When were you going to talk to us about all of this, Stark?" Namor asked in his usual surly manner.

"And good morning to you too, Namor," he said, unable to help himself.

"When?" Namor asked, referring to his earlier question.

"When what?" he asked, trying to play dumb even though he had a pretty good idea what the ruler of Atlantis was referring to.

Reed only confirmed it when he held up an image of the Cebulski Report with the headline 'NEW Avengers?' right in the middle with a picture of the new team.

"Oh, yeah, I, um…" he said as he tried to figure out a reason why he hadn't informed the group sooner. "I got the Avengers back together."

"Good for you," Stephen said with the otherworldliness that came with his astral form.

"You can afford it?" Reed asked, going straight to the financial concerns of funding such a team.

"No, but we'll do what we gotta do," he replied, being honest about what he could afford versus what it'd actually cost.

"I've spoken to Logan. It's the right thing to do," Xavier said, showing his support for the reforming of the Avengers.

"You were all right, all of you. The Avengers left a hole, the hole is filled," he said, referring to a discussion they'd had soon after the Avengers had disbanded in wake of Wanda's breakdown.

"When were you going to inform us?" Namor asked, sounding quite annoyed by this point.

"It only happened a little while ago," he said, hoping the Sub-Mariner would realize that the team was a little busy at the moment.

"I thought we had an arrangement here," Namor said, clearly not willing to just accept and be silent. "At the very least we should've been made aware of the escaped powered criminals within the hour of it happening. How many escaped your surface world custody?"

"Forty-six," Reed replied for him, no doubt having already looked it up.

"Forty-four," he corrected, knowing that the trip to the Savage Land had allowed two of the escapees to be returned to custody.

"I had a run-in last night with a gentlemen who referred to himself as something along the lines of… The Crusader," Stephen said, his hands pressed together in front of him. "He attacked me outside my home or, as he referred to it, 'my pagan den of devil worship'. I defeated him with some transient spells and banished him. His ranting had given me quite a headache."

"So there you go…" he said, looking at Reed but thumbing at Stephen. "Only forty-three to go!"

"Is this humorous? There are madmen on the loose!" Namor said, sounding like he found nothing funny about the current situation.

"Listen, the Savage Land mutates broke this lunatic Sauron out of SHIELD prison for their own reasons. It caused what could only be described as a super-villain prison riot," he said, deciding to lay it all out rather than in bits and pieces. "A group of us gathered at the prison and did what we could. We chased Sauron all the way to the Savage Land and got him back into SHIELD custody. Cap saw the gathering as a sign. He believes that the Avengers have been gathered together by fate once again. So we'll make a run of it with this new team. We're each working on getting each and every bad guy back into custody and I'm here to say we wouldn't mind your help. Any of you."

"Are you rebuilding the mansion?" Xavier asked, going with the logical question.

"No. Still can't pay THAT bill and, frankly, I don't really want to. But that's okay," he said, moving things along. "Seems I have a brand spanking new office tower about ten blocks from the Baxter Building that no one will rent office space out of because of my association with Iron Man and the Avengers AND fear of space alien attack.

"So I thought: 'hey, I have an office building no one is using because they're afraid of being attacked by space aliens, so I might as well fill it full of people that might actually get attacked by space aliens'," he said, a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"What about Chicago?" Reed asked out of the blue.

"What ABOUT Chicago?" he asked back, wondering where that had come from.

"We discussed –remember—we discussed, putting a team of heroes in Chicago or Los Angeles. Spreading the 'Wealth' around to other parts of the country so we aren't all concentrated here in New York," Reed replied, elaborating on his earlier question.

"I don't see it happening with this group," he said, knowing that too many members of the new Avengers lived in NYC and wouldn't want to move anywhere.

"What about Alexander and his group?" Reed asked, surprising him a bit. "I've managed to review camera footage taken from various sources during your altercation with them at the mansion. While not completely ready, they could be fairly quickly with a bit of help."

"Who is this Alexander and why would you think his 'group' would be suitable to protect another city?" Namor asked, looking angry at yet another piece of information he was not notified about.

Inwardly he groaned because he really wasn't looking forward to telling Namor about Alexander but, thanks to Reed, he didn't have much choice.

"His full name is Alexander LaVelle Harris. He was born in the Californian town of Sunnydale back in nineteen eighty-one," he replied before using his armor to project a holographic image of the young man. "As you can see, Namor, he's got something of a connection to you."

He could see some looks of polite interest on four of the members of the group but on Namor's there was a mix of disbelief and rising anger.

"Now before you pop your cork, Namor, let me tell you that the second it looked like the group would be sticking around for a few weeks, I did some research on each of them. Harris was easier since he's actually from this timeline and dimension, so there were records I could dig up and calls I could make," he said, not wanting to waste five minutes listening to the ruler of Atlantis rant about the insult to his royal bloodline. "His mother's name is Jessica Harris, though prior to her marriage to Tony Harris her family name was Carson. The name or face ring any bells?"

Bringing up the only picture of Jessica Harris nee Carson he could find online or through his sources, he waited to see if Namor recognized the woman.

"The face seems vaguely familiar but I do not recognize the name," Namor replied after half a minute of looking at the picture.

"After the failed attempt to send Alexander and his teammates back to their places of origin I ran a scan of his DNA and compared it to records I had on you. He is without a doubt your son," Reed said, inserting his own information into the discussion. "Granted, there are signs that Kang enhanced certain aspects of your DNA contribution but I suspect that was only to make him more physically formidable than he would've been as a one quarter Atlantean. There's no sign that he simply took a sample of your DNA and integrated it artificially with the young man's DNA in order to fabricate a connection with you."

"Besides that, what would be the point?" he asked, looking at Namor. "He'd have to know that we'd treat anyone he'd picked with suspicion from the beginning, especially from our own timeline. Besides that, not to put too fine a point on it, but you're not exactly the sort of person who'd just welcome a long lost son with open arms. If anything it would've been easier to fake Alexander being my long lost son given my less than flattering days dating around."

Namor only glowered at this but at least he wasn't dismissing the possibility completely out of hand. He doubted the ruler of Atlantis would ever get a father of the year award but it'd be nice if Xander could at least have one family connection in his new life.

"Who are the other members of this 'team'?" Xavier asked, no doubt to give Namor time to think.

"After Alexander we have an alternate version of The Wasp," he replied, bringing up alt Jan's image when she was in costume. "Of mixed Caucasian-Asian parentage and a member of an alternate version of the Avengers that go by the name The Ultimates. She's got double PhDs, one of which is in molecular biology, and has some skill in unarmed combat. The difference between our Janet and her is that, aside from her Asian heritage, she's a mutant. Aside from that she's got the same basic Wasp power package.

"Next up we have Patricia 'Pepper' Potts, an alternate version of the one we know, who in her native timeline attends a high school called The Tomorrow Academy along with a teenaged version of myself and Rhodey." He brought up an image of the redhead in her armor, minus the helmet. "She's very talkative and her armor was comparable to mine when she first showed up but with the upgrades I made it's as good as the armor I have on right now. She has some skill with computers and accessing files she isn't supposed to but I haven't decided whether that's because her Tony uses the same passwords I do or if she's actually that good a hacker.

"Third on the list is Lyra, no last name yet, and as you can probably guess by her appearance she's related to two people we know," he said, bringing up a holographic image of the green skinned girl. "Namely Thundra and the Hulk. She came from a possible future where humanity is split into two groups by gender and taught to seriously dislike each other. While I don't know anything about the men there, the women are basically taught that men are the source of all evil and world peace is only possible without them. As far as abilities are concerned, most of the usual She-Hulk package exists but the odd thing is that she stayed calm the entire fight with Cap during the fight at the mansion. Not a drop of rage to be had.

"Finally we come to Thena, who comes from fifteen years in the future and an alternate timeline. She's the daughter of Thor and Sif but, as you can see, she chooses to take mostly after her father," he said, showing the young woman clad in her costume and carrying Mjolnir. "She possesses the usual Asgardian physical package, can fly and summon storms, with her hammer only enhancing her abilities further. Capable of lifting forty-five tons, she has some skill as a warrior but has an ego on her as well as a fixation on her royal heritage."

"Looks like Kang was basing his choices with the intent of reforming the founding members of the Avengers," Stephen said with an amused grin.

"Yeah, I caught that, too. All he'd have needed was someone to play the role of Ant Man and it would've been the complete set," he said with a bit of a grin of his own. "We fought them a little over a month ago at the mansion and they managed to take down three members of the Wrecking Crew on their own without a lot of property damage or harm to civilians. I've also watched a few of the sparring sessions Alexander has had with Thena. Patricia needs more training with the armor and, with the exception of their Janet, they don't have a lot of experience in using their powers in populated areas. They've got the basics down but no experience."

"With training they could be suitable protectors of another major city," Xavier said, looking contemplative. "But helping them and supporting them in such a manner could be seen as somewhat hypocritical given how opposed you and Mister Rogers have been to the Young Avengers."

"I know and it was one of the reasons I wasn't going to say anything until Reed spilled the beans just now," he said, looking at Mister Fantastic, who looked a little sorry for what he'd done. "At the moment Alexander and the others are just trying to get used to their new situation and find places to call home. Do I think they're going to try to do some superheroing? Probably. Do I think they should? No. Not without training and a seal of approval from either me or Cap."

"And that brings you back to the double standard issue with the Young Avengers." Stephen said, seeing the circle that was forming.

"Yeah. For the moment Patriot and the other Young Avengers seem to be staying out of costume and living normal lives, and with Alexander's team just trying to find places to live, I figure I have time to figure out how best to approach the problem," he said, not liking the headache the circle of thought was giving him. "You think it's too much to ask for five years to come up with an answer?"

"Given the impetuousness of youth? I would say you'll be lucky if you get five months before one or both teams decide to act with or without your consent." Xavier said with an amused grin.

As much as he wanted to say that the kids would be smart enough not to get into that kind of trouble, his memory wasn't so bad that he didn't remember what he was like when he was their age.

 _Guess I better use that time to try and turn Steve around on the idea of training these kids,_ he thought, deciding that, as much as he understood Cap's position, reality rarely conformed to one's wishes.

 _ **A Sidewalk in San Francisco, California**_

 _ **Mid-Afternoon, Xander's POV**_

 _Well, that's enough walking for now,_ he thought as he sat down on a bench, letting himself completely relax. _Wasn't really doing any good anyway._

He'd originally planned to just walk until he cooled down enough to go back and hopefully give patching things up with Willow another try. However, just when he'd thought that time had come, he'd remembered what she'd said to him and that had brought the steam right back to full. He knew he'd screwed up accepting Kang's deal but she could've been a bit more understanding and a lot less condescending about his aptitude for fighting the fight. It's not like he'd never intended to come back, he'd had every intention of returning the very second Kang had plucked him from, it was just that things hadn't worked out that way. They'd been through enough crazy stuff those last three years in Sunnydale for her to know that sometimes things just happened no matter how much you tried to prevent them. Add to that the usual trouble he tended to get into just by existing and Willow should've conceded that things might've been beyond his control from the beginning and, considering Kang was a big time Avenger villain, he might've kidnapped him regardless. Guys that got labeled 'warlord' rarely took refusals lightly and often used force to get whatever they wanted whether it be things or people.

The only way he probably would've been able to evade Kang's little plan would've been if the guy had chosen someone else for his little team.

 _At this point even, if I'd never get to meet Thena and the others, I'd take being an ordinary guy again in a heartbeat if it meant I could've changed things,_ he thought with a rather depressed look on his face.

"Are you done now?" asked a voice from out of nowhere. "'Cause watching you walking around all emo is starting to get annoying."

"Wha-? Who?" he asked, startled as he looked about for the speaker.

In the space of two seconds Janet appeared, obviously having followed in her shrunken form and only now chosen to reveal herself. He was a tiny bit irritated at this since what he did with his time was none of her business, especially when it came to trying to patch things up with Willow. At the same time, though, enough of him was glad that she'd cared enough about him to tag along that he wasn't going to give her a hard time about it. What he was going to give her a hard time about was having the nerve to call him 'emo' because that was just uncalled for.

"Like you'd be any different after being verbally fried by your best friend," he said with a roll of his eyes. "So should I expect Thena and the others to show up soon or what?"

"No, they're still back in New York," Janet said as she took up the free space on the bench next to him. "When you got all broody the last couple of days, it didn't take a genius to figure out what you were planning to do. At first they all wanted to go but I pointed out that you probably wouldn't want us going along, so I suggested that only one of us go just in case. Since I'd be able to stay out of sight and keep up with you best, it was decided that I'd make the trip. I've been with you since you left Stark Tower."

 _Well, it's a small favor that the others didn't come along,_ he thought with an internal smile as he imagined Thena, Lyra and Pepper coming to San Fran to keep an eye on him. _No way would they be able to blend in and, with five lightning rods of trouble, something would've happened sooner or later._

Indeed, if it wasn't Lyra's Hulk-like complexion and super feminist beliefs, then it'd be Thena's overvaluation of her royal lineage that'd result in some serious violence. Then again Pepper was something of a chatterbox and her brain-to-mouth filter didn't always work right, so it was possible that the redhead would say something wrong before she realized it. As long as it was just Janet, the most trouble they might get into would be if someone mistook her for this world's Wasp, but looking at her now with her mask off, he only saw the most superficial similarities between the two. The color scheme of yellow and black was the same as what he remembered seeing in some of the framed pictures back in Stark Tower for this world's Wasp. The only difference really was the fact that his Janet's costume was a sleeveless, mid-riff baring shirt and pants whereas the Wasp of this world had a full bodysuit covering everything below the neck. Add to that the fact that this world's Wasp was Caucasian and the one next to him was of mixed ethnicity and it was more likely that people would see her as a superhero fan girl than a real superhero.

Assuming they didn't see her size shift just now.

"So how was the show from the cheap seats?" he asked, remembering that Janet would've witnessed the entire 'discussion' with Willow.

"I didn't go into Willow's apartment if that's what you mean," Janet said, sounding a bit offended that he thought she'd do something like that. "I stayed out in the hallway and I only would've gone in if she'd tried to seriously hurt you. Not that it mattered since near the end you two were loud enough to hear right through the door anyway."

Point.

"Still, it was pretty clear that the two of you have some issues to work out," Jan said with a thoughtful look on her face. "Give her a few weeks and then give it another shot. It was probably the shock of seeing you again after so many years talking rather than the real her. Once she's had time to think over what you told her, I think she'll come around. She's you're best friend after all, right?"

"Hope springs eternal and all that, right?" he asked rhetorically while managing one of his lopsided smiles. "SO, since my flight back doesn't leave until tomorrow, what do you want to do until then?"

"Well, we are in San Francisco, so let's see the sights!" Jan replied with a grin. "Have another night on the town while we're here! Besides, I'm kind of curious to see if there're any differences between my San Fran and this one."

It's not like he had anything better planned.

"Then I'll let you choose the first stop," he said, standing up from the bench before extending a hand to help Janet do the same. "Just keep in mind that while not financially destitute, my bank account does have its limits."

"Don't worry. I think you'll find I'm a girl of simple tastes," she said with a smile that implied she was looking forward to seeing the city with him.

With that the two of them walked off, with Janet taking the lead and him following dutifully along, wondering if where they were going would be fun or something he'd just have to endure.

Jan was a girl, after all, and there were some things a girl liked that he never would.


End file.
